Ⅳ 群鴉的盛宴 Chapter23 阿蓮
ALAYNE
初升的陽光穿過窄窗，阿蓮伸著懶腰爬起床。吉思爾聽到響動，慌忙披上睡袍。屋內還充斥著夜晚的寒意。等到冬天，這里就不能住了，阿蓮心想，這里會冷得跟墳墓一樣。于是她穿好袍子，系起腰帶。“爐火滅了，”她吩咐，“麻煩你，加點柴。”
As the rising sun came streaming through the windows, Alayne sat up in bed and stretched. Gretchel heard her stir and rose at once to fetch her bedrobe. The rooms had grown chilly during the night. It will be worse when winter has us in its grip, she thought. Winter will make this place as cold as any tomb. Alayne slipped into the robe and belted it about her waist. “The fire’s almost out,” she observed. “Put another log on, if you would.”
“是，小姐。”老婦人答應。
“As my lady wishes,” the old woman said.
阿蓮在處女塔的住所寬敞華麗，與萊莎夫人在世時她所寄居的小臥房自不可同日而語。現今她有了單獨的更衣室和廁所，還有一個白石雕刻的陽臺，足以俯瞰谷地。趁吉思爾照米斗壁爐的工夫，阿蓮赤腳走出去。腳下石頭冷冰冰的，屋外山風凜冽——鷹巢城上一貫如此——但眼前的風景讓她暫時忘卻了所有不適。處女塔是七座尖塔中最東邊的一座，因此視野也最好，晨光之下，森林、河流與田野紛紛慵懶呈現，光輝在山頭閃爍，好似無數傳說中的金字塔。
Alayne’s apartments in the Maiden’s Tower were larger and more lavish than the little bedchamber where she’d been kept when Lady Lysa was alive. She had a dressing room and a privy of her own now, and a balcony of carved white stone that looked off across the Vale. While Gretchel was tending to the fire, Alayne padded barefoot across the room and slipped outside. The stone was cold beneath her feet, and the wind was blowing fiercely, as it always did up here, but the view made her forget all that for half a heartbeat. Maiden’s was the easternmost of the Eyrie’s seven slender towers, so she had the Vale before her, its forests and rivers and fields all hazy in the morning light. The way the sun was hitting the mountains made them look like solid gold.
好漂亮啊。白雪皚皚的巨人之槍籠罩在前，雄渾豪邁的山巖與冰雪使得它肩膀上的城堡顯得如此渺小。夏日里阿萊莎之淚騰涌的懸崖，如今垂下二十尺高的冰柱。一只獵鷹在崖邊盤旋，張開藍色的翅膀，翱翔于晴空之中。我有翅膀就好了。
So lovely. The snow-clad summit of the Giant’s Lance loomed above her, an immensity of stone and ice that dwarfed the castle perched upon its shoulder. Icicles twenty feet long draped the lip of the precipice where Alyssa’s Tears fell in summer. A falcon soared above the frozen waterfall, blue wings spread wide against the morning sky. Would that I had wings as well.
她把手放在精雕細琢的欄桿上，向外眺望。六百尺的正下方乃是長天堡，繼而無數鑿刻的石階組成蜿蜒的道路穿過雪山堡和危巖堡，直下谷地。月門堡的塔樓與工事細小得像孩童的玩具，而城堡之外，公義者同盟的士兵們也從帳篷里起身，來來往往，好比蟻丘中的螞蟻。他們真是螞蟻就好了，她心想，伸腿就能踩扁。
She rested her hands on the carved stone balustrade and made herself peer over the edge. She could see Sky six hundred feet below, and the stone steps carved into the mountain, the winding way that led past Snow and Stone all the way down to the valley floor. She could see the towers and keeps of the Gates of the Moon, as small as a child’s toys. Around the walls the hosts of Lords Declarant were stirring, emerging from their tents like ants from an anthill. If only they were truly ants, she thought, we could step on them and crush them.
小杭特伯爵的隊伍于兩天前抵達，其他人則早到了。奈斯特·羅伊斯關門抗拒，但他麾下士兵尚不滿三百，而前來逼宮的六鎮諸侯每人皆帶來一千精銳。阿蓮像清楚自己的真名一樣清楚這些人的名諱：本內達·貝爾摩，洪歌城伯爵；賽蒙·坦帕頓，九星城的騎士；霍頓·雷德佛，紅壘伯爵；安雅·韋伍德，鐵橡城伯爵夫人；杰伍德·杭特——呼為“小杭特”——長弓廳伯爵；以及六鎮中強大者約恩·羅伊斯，外號“青銅約恩”，聲名顯赫的符石城伯爵，乃奈斯特的表兄和羅伊斯家族本家的族長。自萊莎·艾林墜落之后，這六鎮諸侯就在符石城商討，最終簽訂了盟約，誓言共舉義旗，保境安民，并為勞勃公爵和谷地而戰。他們的聲明中絲毫沒提到峽谷守護者，反而要求“終結亂政”，清理“宵小奸臣”。
Young Lord Hunter and his levies had joined the others two days past. Nestor Royce had closed the Gates against them, but he had fewer than three hundred men in his garrison. Each of the Lords Declarant had brought a thousand, and there were six of them. Alayne knew their names as well as her own. Benedar Belmore, Lord of Strongsong. Symond Templeton, the Knight of Ninestars. Horton Redfort, Lord of Redfort. Anya Waynwood, Lady of Ironoaks. Gilwood Hunter, called Young Lord Hunter by all and sundry, Lord of Longbow Hall. And Yohn Royce, mightiest of them all, the redoubtable Bronze Yohn, Lord of Runestone, Nestor’s cousin and the chief of the senior branch of House Royce. The six had gathered at Runestone after Lysa Arryn’s fall, and there made a pact together, vowing to defend Lord Robert, the Vale, and one another. Their declaration made no mention of the Lord Protector, but spoke of “misrule” that must be ended, and of “false friends and evil counselors” as well.
冷風拍打著小腿，她回屋換裝，準備用餐。培提爾將前妻的衣櫥盡數贈予，里面有她做夢也不敢想象的無數絲衣、綢緞、天鵝絨與毛皮，不過大都既肥且寬——萊莎多次懷孕又多次死產流產后，已徹底沒了體形——阿蓮只穿得上奔流城年輕二小姐的那些舊裙服。吉思爾負責把其他衣服一件一件改好，畢竟，十三歲的阿蓮已比她姨媽二十歲時高出一脛。
A cold gust of wind blew up her legs. She went inside to choose a gown to break her fast in. Petyr had given her his late wife’s wardrobe, a wealth of silks, satins, velvets, and furs far beyond anything she had ever dreamed, though the great bulk of it was far too large for her; Lady Lysa had grown very stout during her long succession of pregnancies, stillbirths, and miscarriages. A few of the oldest gowns had been made for young Lysa Tully of Riverrun, however, and others Gretchel had been able to alter to fit Alayne, who was almost as long of leg at three-and-ten as her aunt had been at twenty.
今天早上，她看上一件徒利家族紅藍相間的裙服，邊緣鑲有松鼠毛，于是吉思爾幫她穿進喇叭袖，捆好背帶，再梳挽她的長發——昨晚臨睡前，阿蓮剛重新染過。姨媽將她棗紅色的秀發染成了深棕色，然而過不多久，發根又會變紅，所以得時時補料。染料用完后我該怎么辦呢？畢竟那是從狹海對岸的泰洛西得來的稀罕之物。
This morning her eye was caught by a parti-colored gown of Tully red and blue, lined with vair. Gretchel helped her slide her arms into the belled sleeves and laced her back, then brushed and pinned her hair. Alayne had darkened it again last night before she went to bed. The wash her aunt had given her changed her own rich auburn into Alayne’s burnt brown, but it was seldom long before the red began creeping back at the roots. And what must I do when the dye runs out? The wash had come from Tyrosh, across the narrow sea.
下樓梯時，她再度感嘆于鷹巢城的寂靜，只怕七國上下沒有比這里更沉默的城堡了。此地的仆從不僅稀少，而且個個老邁，交流時也識趣地壓低聲音，以免驚擾暴躁的少主。山上沒有馬廄，沒有獵狗咆哮，沒有騎士操練比武，連守衛們在白石廳堂里巡邏的腳步聲也顯得疏遠縹緲，她唯一能清晰分辨的，乃是寒風席卷尖塔的嗚咽與嘆息。想起剛來城里時，至少還能聽見阿萊莎之淚的纏綿，如今吉思爾說瀑布要到春天才會解凍。
As she went down to break her fast, Alayne was struck again by the stillness of the Eyrie. There was no quieter castle in all the Seven Kingdoms. The servants here were few and old and kept their voices down so as not to excite the young lord. There were no horses on the mountain, no hounds to bark and growl, no knights training in the yard. Even the footsteps of the guards seemed strangely muffled as they walked the pale stone halls. She could hear the wind moaning and sighing round the towers, but that was all. When she had first come to Eyrie, there had been the murmur of Alyssa’s Tears as well, but the waterfall was frozen now. Gretchel said it would stay silent till the spring.
勞勃大人獨坐在廚房上方的明月廳內，無精打采地用木匙掏著一大碗蜂蜜麥片粥。“我要雞蛋，”他看見她便抱怨，“我要三個煮得軟軟的雞蛋，外加煎好的培根。”
She found Lord Robert alone in the Morning Hall above the kitchens, pushing a wooden spoon listlessly through a big bowl of porridge and honey. “I wanted eggs,” he complained when he saw her. “I wanted three eggs boiled soft, and some back bacon.”
他們沒有雞蛋，更沒有培根。鷹巢城糧倉里儲備的燕麥、玉米和大麥足以支撐一年之久，但新鮮食品都是由一位名叫米亞·石東的私生女孩從谷地帶上來的。如今公義者同盟封鎖了山路，米亞不敢冒險穿越——六鎮諸侯非常清楚這點，他們中最先趕來的貝爾摩伯爵剛到山下便派烏鴉傳信警告小指頭，只要他還挾持著勞勃公爵，就別想得到任何供應。換言之，鷹巢城沒有遭到嚴格意義上的圍困，但情況也好不到哪里去。
They had no eggs, no more than they had bacon. The Eyrie’s granaries held sufficient oats and corn and barley to feed them for a year, but they depended on a bastard girl named Mya Stone to bring fresh foodstuffs up from the valley floor. With the Lords Declarant encamped at the foot of the mountain there was no way for Mya to get through. Lord Belmore, first of the six to reach the Gates, had sent a raven to tell Littlefinger that no more food would go up to the Eyrie until he sent Lord Robert down. It was not quite a siege, not as yet, but it was the next best thing.
“等米亞上山您就會有雞蛋的，要多少有多少，”阿蓮對小公爵保證，“她會帶來雞蛋、黃油和瓜果，許多美味可口的東西。”
“You can have eggs when Mya comes, as many as you like,” Alayne promised the little lordling. “She’ll bring eggs and butter and melons, all sorts of tasty things.”
男孩不為所動，“我現在就要雞蛋。”
The boy was unappeased. “I wanted eggs today.”
“乖羅賓，這里沒有雞蛋，你是知道的。好啦，快把粥喝了吧，味道挺不錯的。”她自己先舀了一匙。
“Sweetrobin, there are no eggs, you know that. Please, eat your porridge, it’s very nice.” She ate a spoonful of her own.
勞勃將湯匙在碗里拌來拌去，就是不放進嘴里。“我不餓，”他最后決定，“我想回去睡覺。昨晚我又沒睡著，阿蓮，總是聽見歌聲！柯蒙師傅給我安眠酒喝，可我喝了還是聽見有人唱。”
Robert pushed his spoon across the bowl and back, but never brought it to his lips. “I am not hungry,” he decided. “I want to go back to bed. I never slept last night. I heard singing. Maester Colemon gave me dreamwine but I could still hear it.”
阿蓮放下湯匙，“如果有人唱，我也會聽見。乖羅賓，你在做噩夢，沒別的。”
Alayne put down her spoon. “If there had been singing, I should have heard it too. You had a bad dream, that’s all.”
“不對，才不是夢！”男孩眼中噙滿淚花，“是馬瑞里安，他又在唱！你爸爸說他死了，不，他才沒有死！”
“No, it wasn’t a dream.” Tears filled his eyes. “Marillion was singing again. Your father says he’s dead, but he isn’t.”
“他死了，”聽勞勃這樣講，她忽然覺得很害怕。他幼弱多病，如果又瘋了該怎么辦？“乖羅賓，馬瑞里安真的死了，他深愛著你母親大人，所以無法原諒自己對她犯下的罪孽，他最終被藍天所召喚。”當然，阿蓮和勞勃一樣沒看見尸體，但歌手的結局早已注定。“真的，他死了。”
“He is.” It frightened her to hear him talk like this. Bad enough that he is small and sickly, what if he is mad as well? “Sweetrobin, he is. Marillion loved your lady mother too much and could not live with what he’d done to her, so he walked into the sky.” Alayne had not seen the body, no more than Robert had, but she did not doubt the fact of the singer’s death. “He’s gone, truly.”
“但我每晚都聽見他唱歌，就連關上窗戶，用枕頭蒙住腦袋也不行。你爸爸該把他舌頭拔出來，我命令他這么做，結果他不執行！”
“But I hear him every night. Even when I close the shutters and put a pillow on my head. Your father should have cut his tongue out. I told him to, but he wouldn’t.”
那當然，得留住舌頭好讓他在外人面前招供。“羅賓，乖，把粥喝了吧，”阿蓮哄道，“好嗎？就當是為了我？”
He needed a tongue to confess. “Be a good boy and eat your porridge,” Alayne pleaded. “Please? For me?”
“我不想喝粥，”勞勃伸手將湯匙擲過大廳，砸在一幅織錦上，潔白的明月錦繡留下了點點污跡。“大人要雞蛋！”
“I don’t want porridge.” Robert flung his spoon across the hall. It bounced off a hanging tapestry, and left a smear of porridge upon a white silk moon. “The lord wants eggs!”
“大人應該滿懷感激地把粥喝下去。”培提爾的聲音從身后傳來。
“The lord shall eat porridge and be thankful for it,” said Petyr’s voice, behind them.
阿蓮連忙回頭，看見他和柯蒙師傅并肩站在拱形門梁下。“請聽聽峽谷守護者的勸告，大人，”學士勸道，“您的封臣此刻正上山前來投誠效忠，您需要精神抖擻地接待。”
Alayne turned, and saw him in the doorway arch with Maester Colemon at his side. “You should heed the Lord Protector, my lord,” the maester said. “Your lord’s bannermen are coming up the mountain to pay you homage, so you will need all your strength.”
勞勃用指關節揉揉左眼，“叫他們走，我才不想看見他們。如果他們堅持要來，我就要看他們飛！”
Robert rubbed at his left eye with a knuckle. “Send them away. I don’t want them. If they come, I’ll make them fly.”
“噢，您這提議很有意思，大人，可惜我保證過他們的安全。”培提爾說，“無論如何，現在要趕他們走也遲了，對方多半已到達危巖堡。”
“You tempt me sorely, my lord, but I fear I promised them safe conduct,” said Petyr. “In any case, it is too late to turn them back. By now they may have climbed as far as Stone.”
“就不能放過咱們嗎？”阿蓮聞言哀嘆，“咱們從來都沒傷害過他們。他們想要什么呢？”
“Why won’t they leave us be?” wailed Alayne. “We never did them any harm. What do they want of us?”
“他們要勞勃大人。他，還有谷地。”培提爾促狹地微笑，“一行八人，除了六個鬧事者，還有帶路的奈斯特子爵以及林恩·科布瑞——這種腥風血雨的場面，他怎會錯過？”
“Just Lord Robert. Him, and the Vale.” Petyr smiled. “There will be eight of them. Lord Nestor is showing them up, and they have Lyn Corbray with them. Ser Lyn is not the sort of man to stay away when blood is in the offing.”
小指頭的話只能加劇她的恐慌。傳說在比武場上被林恩·科布瑞殺掉的人和在戰場上被他殺掉的人一樣多。他的騎士封號是助勞勃叛亂而獲得的，起初，他在海鷗鎮外對抗瓊恩·艾林公爵，后來投靠叛軍參加三叉戟河決戰，并在會戰中擊殺了著名的御林鐵衛，多恩的勒文親王。培提爾告訴阿蓮，當勒文親王最終對上科布瑞那柄名劍“空寂女士”時，已然傷痕累累，難以為繼，但他又隨即補充，“這些言語你可不能在科布瑞面前提起，所有問起他與馬泰爾一戰真相的人，都被他送到地獄里去向他的對手提問了。”實際上，只要她從鷹巢城守衛們口中聽來的故事有一半真實，林恩·科布瑞就已經比公義者同盟的六位諸侯加起來還要危險。“他怎么也來？”阿蓮急促地追問，“我還以為科布瑞家站在您這邊呢。”
His words did little to soothe her fears. Lyn Corbray had slain almost as many men in duels as he had in battle. He had won his spurs during Robert’s Rebellion, she knew, fighting first against Lord Jon Arryn at the gates of Gulltown, and later beneath his banners on the Trident, where he had cut down Prince Lewyn of Dorne, a white knight of the Kingsguard. Petyr said that Prince Lewyn had been sorely wounded by the time the tide of battle swept him to his final dance with Lady Forlorn, but added, “That’s not a point you’ll want to raise with Corbray, though. Those who do are soon given the chance to ask Martell himself the truth of it, down in the halls of hell.” If even half of what she had heard from Lord Robert’s guards was true, Lyn Corbray was more dangerous than all six of the Lords Declarant put together. “Why is he coming?” she asked. “I thought the Corbrays were for you.”
“萊昂諾·科布瑞大人的確傾向于我，”培提爾解釋，“但他弟弟我行我素慣了。在三叉戟河，當他們的父親被砍倒時，是林恩抓起‘空寂女士’，替父報仇。隨后萊昂諾護送老人去后方找學士救治，林恩則率隊沖鋒，不僅擊潰威脅勞勃左翼的多恩軍隊，還殺掉了對方領袖勒文·馬泰爾。老科布瑞伯爵臨死前，將‘空寂女士’劍傳給了幼子，把封地、爵位、城堡和所有錢財留給萊昂諾，不過做哥哥的并不領情，始終覺得自己的權利受到了損害，至于林恩爵士嘛……他對我的感情就跟他對萊昂諾的感情一樣深，你知道，他本來想娶萊莎的。”
“Lord Lyonel Corbray is well disposed toward my rule,” said Petyr, “but his brother goes his own way. On the Trident, when their father fell wounded, it was Lyn who snatched up Lady Forlorn and slew the man who’d cut him down. Whilst Lyonel was carrying the old man back to the maesters in the rear, Lyn led his charge against the Dornishmen threatening Robert’s left, broke their lines to pieces, and slew Lewyn Martell. So when old Lord Corbray died, he bestowed the Lady upon his younger son. Lyonel got his lands, his title, his castle, and all his coin, yet still feels he was cheated of his birthright, whilst Ser Lyn … well, he loves Lyonel as much as he loves me. He wanted Lysa’s hand for himself.”
“我不喜歡林恩爵士，”勞勃插話，“我不許他來這里。你趕緊叫他下山，我從沒準許他上來。不準他上來！媽咪說過，這里是攻不破的！”
“I don’t like Ser Lyn,” Robert insisted. “I won’t have him here. You send him back down. I never said that he could come. Not here. The Eyrie is impregnable, Mother said.”
“你媽媽死了，大人，而直到你十六歲命名日之前，谷地由我統治，”培提爾轉身吩咐廚房臺階上的駝背仆女，“美拉，給大人拿一個新湯匙，大人想喝粥。”
“Your mother is dead, my lord. Until your sixteenth name day, I rule the Eyrie.” Petyr turned to the stoop-backed serving woman hovering near the kitchen steps. “Mela, fetch his lordship a new spoon. He wants to eat his porridge.”
“我才不想喝！我想看它飛！”勞勃兜起大碗擲過去，麥片與蜂蜜霎時在空中飛濺，培提爾·貝里席見狀敏捷地閃躲開來，柯蒙師傅就沒那身手了，結果被木匙結結實實地打中胸膛，食物濺滿臉龐和肩膀，令他顧不得學士的尊嚴，驚惶地出聲尖叫。阿蓮連忙上前安撫，可惜遲了，發病的男孩用顫抖的手抓起一壺牛奶再度扔出去，然后他試圖站起來，結果撞翻了椅子，摔成一團，亂蹬的腿狠狠地踢中阿蓮的肚子，差點令她背過氣去。“噢，諸神在上。”培提爾厭惡地說。
“I do not! Let my porridge fly!” This time Robert flung the bowl, porridge and honey and all. Petyr Baelish ducked aside nimbly, but Maester Colemon was not so quick. The wooden bowl caught him square in the chest, and its contents exploded upward over his face and shoulders. He yelped in a most unmaesterlike fashion, while Alayne turned to soothe the little lordling, but too late. The fit was on him. A pitcher of milk went flying as his hand caught it, flailing. When he tried to rise he knocked his chair backwards and fell on top of it. One foot caught Alayne in the belly, so hard it knocked the wind from her. “Oh, gods be good,” she heard Petyr say, disgusted.
麥片粥點綴在柯蒙師傅的頭發和臉龐上，他跪在主子面前，呢喃著安慰的話語。一顆米粒自他右頰緩緩滑落，仿佛一大顆灰黃的淚珠。這次發作沒有上次強烈，阿蓮試圖往積極的方面想。癲痢病發作完畢后，培提爾召來兩名穿天藍披風和銀鎖甲的守衛，“帶他回房，用水蛭放血。”峽谷守護者下令，兩名守衛中的高個子便一聲不吭地將主人攬入懷中。連我都能輕輕松松抱起他，阿蓮心想，他就像他的布偶那么輕。
Globs of porridge dotted Maester Colemon’s face and hair as he knelt over his charge, murmuring soothing words. One gobbet crept slowly down his right cheek, like a lumpy grey-brown tear. It is not so bad a spell as the last one, Alayne thought, trying to be hopeful. By the time the shaking stopped, two guards in sky-blue cloaks and silvery mail shirts had come at Petyr’s summons. “Take him back to bed and leech him,” the Lord Protector said, and the taller guardsman scooped the boy up in his arms. I could carry him myself, Alayne thought. He is no heavier than a doll.
柯蒙多留了片刻，“大人，會面可否緩一日？自萊莎夫人死后，這孩子的病一天比一天厲害，不僅發作得更頻繁，每次發作也更加劇烈。我已在所能允許的最大范圍內為他放血，給他喝安眠酒和罌粟花奶，以助其入睡，然而，他需要休息……”
Colemon lingered a moment before following. “My lord, this parley might best be left for another day. His lordship’s spells have grown worse since Lady Lysa’s death. More frequent and more violent. I bleed the child as often as I dare, and mix him dreamwine and milk of the poppy to help him sleep, but …”
“他一天能睡十二個鐘頭，”培提爾打斷道，“而我只要他在必要的時刻保持清醒。”
“He sleeps twelve hours a day,” Petyr said. “I require him awake from time to time.”
學士尷尬地用手指梳梳頭發，甩開無數米粒，落到地板上。“從前，每當他焦躁不安時，萊莎夫人會喂他奶喝。安布羅斯博士說母乳具有奇特的功效。”
The maester combed his fingers through his hair, dribbling globs of porridge on the floor. “Lady Lysa would give his lordship her breast whenever he grew overwrought. Archmaester Ebrose claims that mother’s milk has many heathful properties.”
“這就是你的諫言嗎，學士先生？你要我們為鷹巢城公爵和艾林谷守護者找個奶媽？那等他結婚那天，該怎樣讓他斷奶呢？或者教他放棄奶媽的乳頭直接找上新娘子的？”培提爾公爵哈哈大笑，“不，不妥，我建議你另選一條路子。孩子都愛吃甜食，對吧？”
“Is that your counsel, maester? That we find a wet nurse for the Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale? When shall we wean him, on his wedding day? That way he can move directly from his nurse’s nipples to his wife’s.” Lord Petyr’s laugh made it plain what he thought of that. “No, I think not. I suggest you find another way. The boy is fond of sweets, is he not?”
“甜食？”
“Sweets?” said Colemon.
“甜食。蛋糕、派餅、果醬、果凍、蜂蜜……諸如此類，或許……在牛奶里加一點甜睡花，你試過嗎？只加一點點，以安撫神經，幫他擺脫癲痢病的困擾。”
“Sweets. Cakes and pies, jams and jellies, honey on the comb. Perhaps a pinch of sweetsleep in his milk, have you tried that? Just a pinch, to calm him and stop his wretched shaking.”
“一點？”學士的喉結急促地前后蠕動，“一點點……也許，也許罷……不能太多，也不能太頻繁，然而，我可以試……”
“A pinch?” The apple in the maester’s throat moved up and down as he swallowed. “One small pinch … perhaps, perhaps. Not too much, and not too often, yes, I might try …”
“一點，”培提爾公爵保證，“在你帶他出來接見封臣們之前。”
“A pinch,” Lord Petyr said, “before you bring him forth to meet the lords.”
“遵命，大人。”學士急匆匆離開，每走一步，頸鏈都輕聲作響。
“As you command, my lord.” The maester hurried out, his chain clinking softly with every step.
“父親，”等眾人離開后，阿蓮發問，“您用早餐嗎？我去盛粥。”
“Father,” Alayne asked when he was gone, “will you have a bowl of porridge to break your fast?”
“我討厭麥片粥，”他用小指頭的眼睛打量她，“一個親吻足以當我的早餐了。”
“I despise porridge.” He looked at her with Littlefinger’s eyes. “I’d sooner break my fast with a kiss.”
真正的女兒決不會拒絕為父親獻上親吻，因此阿蓮奔上前吻了他，那是干巴巴、急促的一碰，剛剛碰到臉頰，旋即急促地分開。
A true daughter would not refuse her sire a kiss, so Alayne went to him and kissed him, a quick dry peck upon the cheek, and just as quickly stepped away.
“多么地……盡職盡責啊，”小指頭的嘴唇在笑，眼睛卻沒有，“好吧，我正好有職責要交給你。去找廚子，溫幾壺紅酒，加上蜂蜜和葡萄干，我們的客人爬了很長的路，想必又冷又渴。等他們抵達，你得親自出去迎接，奉上面包、奶酪和葡萄酒……我們還剩下什么樣的奶酪？”
“How … dutiful.” Littlefinger smiled with his mouth, but not his eyes. “Well, I have other duties for you, as it happens. Tell the cook to mull some red wine with honey and raisins. Our guests will be cold and thirsty after their long climb. You are to meet them when they arrive, and offer them refreshment. Wine, bread, and cheese. What sort of cheese is left to us?”
“嗆口的白奶酪和發臭的藍奶酪。”
“The sharp white and the stinky blue.”
“端白的出來。此外，你得更衣。”
“The white. And you’d best change as well.”
阿蓮低頭審視自己的裙服，那是奔流城的深藍和暗紅，“您覺得這太——”
Alayne looked down at her dress, the deep blue and rich dark red of Riverrun. “Is it too—”
“——太徒利化了。我的私生女兒炫耀地穿著我前妻的衣服會刺激‘公義者’們。趕快去換，嗯，需要我提醒你天藍和乳白也不行嗎？”
“It is too Tully. The Lords Declarant will not be pleased by the sight of my bastard daughter prancing about in my dead wife’s clothes. Choose something else. Need I remind you to avoid sky blue and cream?”
“是，”天藍和乳白乃是艾林家族的色彩。“他們有八個，您……青銅約恩也在其中？”
“No.” Sky blue and cream were the colors of House Arryn. “Eight, you said … Bronze Yohn is one of them?”
“他是這八個里面我唯一關心的。”
“The only one who matters.”
“青銅約恩認得我，”她提醒培提爾，“他兒子披上黑衣時，他隨行來臨冬城做客。”阿蓮模糊地憶起，自己是如何瘋狂地愛上了威瑪爵士……那仿佛是一生之前的事了，是某位笨女孩的夢想。“后來，羅伊斯大人他還……他還在君臨見過珊莎·史塔克，在首相的比武會上。”
“Bronze Yohn knows me,” she reminded him. “He was a guest at Winterfell when his son rode north to take the black.” She had fallen wildly in love with Ser Waymar, she remembered dimly, but that was a lifetime ago, when she was a stupid little girl. “And that was not the only time. Lord Royce saw … he saw Sansa Stark again at King’s Landing, during the Hand’s tourney.”
培提爾以一根手指抬起她的下巴：“羅伊斯見過這張俏臉不假，但這張臉不過是一千張臉譜中匆匆閃過的花朵。下場比武的戰士關心的是自個兒的安危，不是人群中的孩子；而臨冬城的珊莎是個棗紅頭發的小女孩，我女兒是高大美貌的處女，頭發更有栗子的顏色。人們只會看到自己想看的東西，阿蓮，”他吻了她的鼻子，“叫瑪迪燃起書房的爐火，我將在那里待客。”
Petyr put a finger under her chin. “That Royce glimpsed this pretty face I do not doubt, but it was one face in a thousand. A man fighting in a tourney has more to concern him than some child in the crowd. And at Winterfell, Sansa was a little girl with auburn hair. My daughter is a maiden tall and fair, and her hair is chestnut. Men see what they expect to see, Alayne.” He kissed her nose. “Have Maddy lay a fire in the solar. I shall receive our Lords Declarant there.”
“不在大廳嗎？”
“Not the High Hall?”
“不成。我不能太靠近艾林家的王座，否則會挑起更深的怨恨，他們認為像我這樣出身低微的人注定沒資格向往那高高在上的座位。”
“No. Gods forbid they glimpse me near the high seat of the Arryns, they might think that I mean to sit in it. Cheeks born so low as mine must never aspire to such lofty cushions.”
“書房啊……”她本該就此住嘴，卻不知怎的又補問了一句，“若您把勞勃……”
“The solar.” She should have stopped with that, but the words came tumbling out of her. “If you gave them Robert …”
“……和谷地交給他們？”
“… and the Vale?”
“他們已經占有了谷地。”
“They have the Vale.”
“噢，他們是占有谷地的一大塊，這我承認，但遠遠沒到控制局面的程度。我在海鷗鎮很受歡迎，也有別的諸侯肯當我的朋友。格拉夫森、林德利、萊昂諾·科布瑞……當然，他們的勢力比不上公義者同盟。不過阿蓮，你覺得我們還能上哪兒去呢？返回我在五指半島上的雄偉要塞嗎？”
“Oh, much of it, that’s true. Not all, however. I am well loved in Gulltown, and have some lordly friends of mine own as well. Grafton, Lynderly, Lyonel Corbray … though I’ll grant you, they are no match for the Lords Declarant. Still, where would you have us go, Alayne? Back to my mighty stronghold on the Fingers?”
她考慮過后路了，“喬佛里給了您一座雄偉要塞，您理所當然應該回赫倫堡。”
She had thought about that. “Joffrey gave you Harrenhal. You are lord in your own right there.”
“那只是虛位，我需要用它來迎娶萊莎，僅此而已——當時總不能讓蘭尼斯特把凱巖城封給我吧。”
“By title. I needed a great seat to marry Lysa, and the Lannisters were not about to grant me Casterly Rock.”
“是，但城堡已經屬于您了。”
“Yes, but the castle is yours.”
“啊，那是怎樣一座城堡啊！洞穴般的殿堂與荒廢的塔樓，鬼魂與幽靈四處出沒，無人打理，難以防御……還有關于詛咒的小麻煩。”
“Ah, and what a castle it is. Cavernous halls and ruined towers, ghosts and draughts, ruinous to heat, impossible to garrison … and there’s that small matter of a curse.”
“詛咒是歌謠和故事里才有的事。”
“Curses are only in songs and stories.”
這話令小指頭不禁微笑：“已經有關于中毒矛慘死的格雷果·克里岡的歌謠了嗎？或者關于在他之前的傭兵，被他肢解四肢的那位？那位又是從亞摩利·洛奇爵士手中接管城堡的，而亞摩利·洛奇爵士得自于泰溫公爵，結果前者教熊吃掉，后者死在自己的侏儒兒子手上。我還聽說河安老夫人也死了。羅斯坦家族、史壯斯家族、哈羅威家族，史壯斯家族……碰過赫倫堡的人統統不得好死。”
That seemed to amuse him. “Has someone made a song about Gregor Clegane dying of a poisoned spear thrust? Or about the sellsword before him, whose limbs Ser Gregor removed a joint at a time? That one took the castle from Ser Amory Lorch, who received it from Lord Tywin. A bear killed one, your dwarf the other. Lady Whent’s died as well, I hear. Lothstons, Strongs, Harroways, Strongs … Harrenhal has withered every hand to touch it.”
“那就把它交給佛雷侯爵！”
“Then give it to Lord Frey.”
培提爾輕笑出聲，“也許吧，或者給咱們親愛的瑟曦太后……噢，可不該說她的壞話，她把那些華麗的織錦給我送來了，你說，她不是挺仁慈的嗎？”
Petyr laughed. “Perhaps I shall. Or better still, to our sweet Cersei. Though I should not speak harshly of her, she is sending me some splendid tapestries. Isn’t that kind of her?”
提起太后的名字便令她全身僵硬。“不，她才不仁慈，她讓我害怕。如果叫她知道我在這里——”
The mention of the queen’s name made her stiffen. “She’s not kind. She scares me. If she should learn where I am—”
“——那我只好讓她提前出局了，如果她還沒把自己置于死地的話，”培提爾用小指頭的笑逗弄她，“在權力的游戲之中，最卑微的棋子也有自己的欲望，有時候會拒絕執行你為它們設計的行動。記住這點，阿蓮，這是瑟曦始終學不會的一課。好啦，你不是還有職責要辦嗎？”
“—I might have to remove her from the game sooner than I’d planned. Provided she does not remove herself first.” Petyr teased her with a little smile. “In the game of thrones, even the humblest pieces can have wills of their own. Sometimes they refuse to make the moves you’ve planned for them. Mark that well, Alayne. It’s a lesson that Cersei Lannister still has yet to learn. Now, don’t you have some duties to perform?”
