Ⅳ 群鸦的盛宴 Chapter11 海怪之女

THE KRAKEN’S DAUGHTER

大厅里人声嘈杂，挤满了醉酒的哈尔洛家族成员，所有亲戚统统到场。每位头领都将自己的旗帜挂在手下人坐的长凳后面。太少了，阿莎·葛雷乔伊一边从楼台上俯视，心里一边想，迄今为止，还是太少了。长凳有四分之三是空的。

The hall was loud with drunken Harlaws, distant cousins all. Each lord had hung his banner behind the benches where his men were seated. Too few, thought Asha Greyjoy, looking down from the gallery, too few by far. The benches were three-quarters empty.

黑风号抵达时，“处女”科尔便如此评价。他数了数她舅舅城堡下停泊的长船，抿紧嘴巴。“他们没来，”他说，“或者说来的人不够。”他讲的是实话，但阿莎不能附和，因为那样或许会被船员们听见。她不怀疑他们的忠诚，但假若从事一项必败无疑的事业，即便是铁岛人，也会犹豫彷徨的。

Qarl the Maid had said as much, when the Black Wind was approaching from the sea. He had counted the longships moored beneath her uncle’s castle, and his mouth had tightened. “They have not come,” he observed, “or not enough of them.” He was not wrong, but Asha could not agree with him, out where her crew might hear. She did not doubt their devotion, but even ironborn will hesitate to give their lives for a cause that’s plainly lost.

难道我的朋友真这么少？她看到波特利家的银鱼旗、斯通垂家的石树、沃马克家的黑鱼怪、密瑞家的绳圈，其余都是哈尔洛家的镰刀。博蒙德的镰刀置于浅蓝底色之上，何索的镰刀在圆圈里，“骑士”的镰刀与其母系家族华丽的孔雀纹章构成四分格，“银发”西格弗里德在斜分底面上放了两把交错的镰刀。只有哈尔洛头领将银色镰刀直接置于暗黑底色上，这面旗帜从黎明之纪元飘扬至今：这是罗德利克的旗帜，他人称“读书人”，乃十塔城领主，哈尔洛岛头领，哈尔洛岛的哈尔洛……她最亲的舅舅。

Do I have so few friends as this? Amongst the banners, she saw the silver fish of Botley, the stone tree of the Stonetrees, the black leviathan of Volmark, the nooses of the Myres. The rest were Harlaw scythes. Boremund placed his upon a pale blue field, Hotho’s was girdled within an embattled border, and the Knight had quartered his with the gaudy peacock of his mother’s House. Even Sigfryd Silverhair showed two scythes counterchanged on a field divided bendwise. Only the Lord Harlaw displayed the silver scythe plain upon a night-black field, as it had flown in the dawn of days: Rodrik, called the Reader, Lord of the Ten Towers, Lord of Harlaw, Harlaw of Harlaw … her favorite uncle.

此刻，罗德利克头领的高背椅空空的。椅子上方有两把交叉的巨型银镰刀，大得连巨人也难以挥舞，可舅舅早已离开，阿莎对此并不惊讶。毕竟，宴会已告结束，搁板桌上只剩骨头和油腻的盘子。大家都在喝酒，而她舅舅罗德利克从不与吵闹的醉汉为伍。

Lord Rodrik’s high seat was vacant. Two scythes of beaten silver crossed above it, so huge that even a giant would have difficulty wielding them, but beneath were only empty cushions. Asha was not surprised. The feast was long concluded. Only bones and greasy platters remained upon the trestle tables. The rest was drinking, and her uncle Rodrik had never been partial to the company of quarrelsome drunks.

她转向“三颗牙”，一位极其年迈的老妇人，刚开始当管家那会儿叫“十二颗牙”。“我舅舅泡在书堆里？”

She turned to Three-Tooth, an old woman of fearful age who had been her uncle’s steward since she was known as Twelve-Tooth. “My uncle is with his books?”

“是啊，还能上哪儿去呢？”那妇人如此年迈，以至于修士曾说，她一定给老妪当过保姆。当时的铁群岛仍能容忍七神信仰，罗德利克头领便在十塔城蓄养修士，这并非为了救赎灵魂，而是为了帮他抄书。“他泡在书堆里，波特利也在。”

“Aye, where else?” The woman was so old that a septon had once said she must have nursed the Crone. That was when the Faith was still tolerated on the isles. Lord Rodrik had kept septons at Ten Towers, not for his soul’s sake but for his books. “With the books, and Botley. He was with him too.”

波特利的旗帜就挂在大厅，那是淡绿底面上的成群银鱼，然而阿莎在港口没看到“快鳍号”。“听说我叔叔‘鸦眼’淹死了老沙纹·波特利。”

Botley’s standard hung in the hall, a shoal of silver fish upon a pale green field, though Asha had not seen his Swiftfin amongst the other longships. “I had heard my nuncle Crow’s Eye had old Sawane Botley drowned.”

“这位是特里斯蒂芬·波特利头领。”

“Lord Tristifer Botley, this one is.”

特里斯掌握了大权。沙纹的长子赫伦出事了？我很快就能找出答案，但无论如何，这次会面一定很尴尬。她多少年没见到特里斯·波特利……不，不要多想。“我母亲呢？”

Tris. She wondered what had happened to Sawane’s elder son, Harren. I will find out soon enough, no doubt. This should be awkward. She had not seen Tris Botley since … no, she ought not dwell on it. “And my lady mother?”

“还在床上，”“三颗牙”说，“寡妇塔里。”

“Abed,” said Three-Tooth, “in the Widow’s Tower.”

是啊，还能在哪儿？寡妇塔得名于她姨母，这是关妮丝夫人服丧之处，她挚爱的丈夫在巴隆·葛雷乔伊第一次反叛期间战死于仙女岛。“等悲伤成为过去，我就会离开，”她告诉弟弟的话众人皆知，“不过十塔城照权利应属于我，因为我比你大七岁。”自那以后，已有许多年，寡妇却仍留在此处伤心，时不时还会唠叨城堡应该是她的。如今罗德利克大人的屋檐下又多出一个半疯的寡妇妹妹，阿莎寻思，难怪他要在书本中寻求慰藉。

Aye, where else? The widow the tower was named after was her aunt. Lady Gwynesse had come home to mourn after her husband had died off Fair Isle during Balon Greyjoy’s first rebellion. “I will only stay until my grief has passed,” she had told her brother, famously, “though by rights Ten Towers should be mine, for I am seven years your elder.” Long years had passed since then, but still the widow lingered, grieving, and muttering from time to time that the castle should be hers. And now Lord Rodrik has a second half-mad widowed sister beneath his roof, Asha reflected. Small wonder if he seeks solace in his books.

说实话，大家很难相信脆弱多病的亚拉妮丝夫人竟比巴隆大王活得长，她父亲平素在人前人后都显得是那样坚定强壮。阿莎出海打仗时心情沉重，害怕母亲在她回来之前死去，不料殒命的反而是父亲。淹神爱开残忍的玩笑，不过，最残忍的难道不是人吗？一阵突如其来的风暴和一条断裂的索桥要了巴隆。葛雷乔伊的命。至少他们对外如此宣布。

Even now, it was hard to credit that frail, sickly Lady Alannys had outlived her husband Lord Balon, who had seemed so hard and strong. When Asha had sailed away to war, she had done so with a heavy heart, fearing that her mother might well die before she could return. Not once had she thought that her father might perish instead. The Drowned God plays savage japes upon us all, but men are crueler still. A sudden storm and a broken rope had sent Balon Greyjoy to his death. Or so they claim.

阿莎上次见到母亲是去北方攻击深林堡途中，停下来在十塔城装水。亚拉妮丝·哈尔洛从来没有歌手们青睐的那种美，但她女儿喜爱她那张坚强刚烈的脸庞，喜爱她眼中的笑意。然而上次造访时，她发现亚拉妮丝夫人坐在临窗坐椅上，裹着一堆毛皮，凝视海面。这是我母亲还是她的鬼魂？她记得自己亲吻母亲脸颊时这么想。

Asha had last seen her mother when she stopped at Ten Towers to take on fresh water, on her way north to strike at Deepwood Motte. Alannys Harlaw never had the sort of beauty the singers cherished, but her daughter had loved her fierce strong face and the laughter in her eyes. On that last visit, though, she had found Lady Alannys in a window seat huddled beneath a pile of furs, staring out across the sea. Is this my mother, or her ghost? she remembered thinking as she’d kissed her cheek.

母亲的皮肤像羊皮纸一样薄，长头发已褪色成花白，虽然昂首的姿态中仍有些许残存的骄傲，但她的眼睛阴暗朦胧，问起席恩时，嘴巴不住颤抖。“你有没有把我的小宝贝儿带回来啊？”她问。席恩十岁时被当做人质送去临冬城，亚拉妮丝夫人似乎认定他一直停留在十岁大。“席恩来不了，”阿莎只能告诉她，“父亲派他沿磐石海岸劫掠。”亚拉妮丝夫人无言以对，只是缓缓点头，然而明显能看出来，女儿的话伤她有多深。

Her mother’s skin had been parchment thin, her long hair white. Some pride remained in the way she held her head, but her eyes were dim and cloudy, and her mouth had trembled when she asked after Theon. “Did you bring my baby boy?” she had asked. Theon had been ten years old when he was carried off to Winterfell a hostage, and so far as Lady Alannys was concerned he would always be ten years old, it seemed. “Theon could not come,” Asha had to tell her. “Father sent him reaving along the Stony Shore.” Lady Alannys had naught to say to that. She only nodded slowly, yet it was plain to see how deep her daughter’s words had cut her.

而今我要把席恩的死讯带给她，将又一把匕首插入她心口。那儿早已插着两把刀，一把叫罗德利克，一把叫马伦，它们无数次地在夜里残酷翻搅。我明天去看她吧，阿莎对自己发誓。前来十塔城的旅途漫长而疲惫，她现在无法面对母亲。

And now I must tell her that Theon is dead, and drive yet another dagger through her heart. There were two knives buried there already. On the blades were writ the words Rodrik and Maron, and many a time they twisted cruelly in the night. I will see her on the morrow, Asha vowed to herself. Her journey had been long and wearisome, she could not face her mother now.

“我得跟罗德利克头领谈谈，”她吩咐“三颗牙”，“等我的船员给黑风号卸完货，替我照料他们。对了，船上的俘虏也要有暖床和热餐。”

“I must speak with Lord Rodrik,” she told Three-Tooth. “See to my crew, once they’re done unloading Black Wind. They’ll bring captives. I want them to have warm beds and a hot meal.”

“厨房有凉牛肉。一只大石头罐子里还有芥末，旧镇货。”想到芥末，老妇人露出了笑容，一颗长长的褐色牙齿从嘴巴里冒出来。

“There’s cold beef in the kitchens. And mustard in a big stone jar, from Oldtown.” The thought of that mustard made the old woman smile. A single long brown tooth poked from her gums.

“那不行。渡海十分辛苦，我要他们肚子里填点热东西。”阿莎用一只大拇指勾住腰间的镶钉皮带。“替葛洛佛夫人和孩子们准备柴火和毛毯。把他们安排在塔楼房间，不准关进地牢。那婴儿生病了。”

“That will not serve. We had a rough crossing. I want something hot in their bellies.” Asha hooked a thumb through the studded belt about her hips. “Lady Glover and the children should not want for wood nor warmth. Put them in some tower, not the dungeons. The babe is sick.”

“婴儿经常生病，然后多半要死，大人们只会瞎难过。我去问问老爷，该把这帮狼仔安排在哪儿。”

“Babes are often sick. Most die, and folks are sorry. I shall ask my lord where to put these wolf folk.”

她用拇指和食指使劲捏住老妇人的鼻子。“你照我的话做。要是婴儿死了，我保证，你会比谁都难过。”“三颗牙”尖叫着答应服从，阿莎才放开她，去找舅舅。

She caught the woman’s nose between thumb and forefinger and pinched. “You will do as I say. And if this babe dies, no one will be sorrier than you.” Three-Tooth squealed and promised to obey, till Asha let her loose and went to find her uncle.

再度行走于熟悉的厅堂，感觉真好，对阿莎而言，十塔城就像家，比派克岛更亲切。初次见到它时，她曾想，这哪里是一座城，分明是十座城堡挤在一起。她记得自己气喘吁吁地奔上奔下，沿着城墙走道和封闭的廊桥追逐，记得在长石码头边钓鱼，记得日日夜夜迷失在舅舅丰富的藏书中。舅舅的祖父的祖父建筑了这座城，它乃是群屿中最崭新的家堡。当年席奥默·哈尔洛头领失去了三个襁褓中的儿子，便归咎于积水的地窖、潮湿的岩石以及侵入古老哈尔洛厅各个角落的硝石。十塔城更通风，更舒适，位置也更佳……可惜席奥默头领毕竟生性善变——对此他的每个老婆都能作证。他有六个风格迥异的老婆，正如他修的十座塔各不相同。

It was good to walk these halls again. Ten Towers had always felt like home to Asha, more so than Pyke. Not one castle, ten castles squashed together, she had thought, the first time she had seen it. She remembered breathless races up and down the steps and along wallwalks and covered bridges, fishing off the Long Stone Quay, days and nights lost amongst her uncle’s wealth of books. His grandfather’s grandfather had raised the castle, the newest on the isles. Lord Theomore Harlaw had lost three sons in the cradle and laid the blame upon the flooded cellars, damp stones, and festering nitre of ancient Harlaw Hall. Ten Towers was airier, more comfortable, better sited … but Lord Theomore was a changeable man, as any of his wives might have testified. He’d had six of those, as dissimilar as his ten towers.

藏书塔在十座塔楼中最为粗壮，呈八角形，由经过切割的大石块筑成。楼梯建在厚厚的墙壁之内，阿莎迅速登上第五层，来到舅舅读书的房间。其实他在哪里都会读书。无论在厕所，在“海歌号”的甲板上，甚至接受觐见时，罗德利克头领都是手不释卷。阿莎经常看见他坐在银镰刀下的高背椅上一边读书，一边听取请愿，宣布裁断……每当侍卫队长去带下一个求见者时，他便能多看一会儿书。

The Book Tower was the fattest of the ten, octagonal in shape and made with great blocks of hewn stone. The stair was built within the thickness of the walls. Asha climbed quickly, to the fifth story and the room where her uncle read. Not that there are any rooms where he does not read. Lord Rodrik was seldom seen without a book in hand, be it in the privy, on the deck of his Sea Song, or whilst holding audience. Asha had oft seen him reading on his high seat beneath the silver scythes. He would listen to each case as it was laid before him, pronounce his judgment … and read a bit whilst his captain-of-guards went to bring in the next supplicant.

此刻，他正伏在靠窗的桌边，被羊皮纸卷轴所包围——这些卷轴或许来自于末日浩劫降临前的瓦雷利亚——周围还躺着几卷皮革封面、铜铁搭扣的沉重典籍，而跟人的手臂一般粗一般长的蜂蜡蜡烛插在精美的铁烛台里，在座位两侧燃烧。罗德利克头领不胖不瘦，不高不矮，不俊也不丑。他的头发是褐色，眼睛也一样，他喜欢将胡子修得短而整洁，那胡子已变成了灰色。总而言之，他是个普普通通的人，除了对白纸黑字的偏爱之外毫无特点，然而对大多数铁民而言，读书是怪癖，不是男子汉该干的事情。

She found him hunched over a table by a window, surrounded by parchment scrolls that might have come from Valyria before its Doom, and heavy leather-bound books with bronze-and-iron hasps. Beeswax candles as thick and tall as a man’s arm burned on either side of where he sat, on ornate iron holders. Lord Rodrik Harlaw was neither fat nor slim; neither tall nor short; neither ugly nor handsome. His hair was brown, as were his eyes, though the short, neat beard he favored had gone grey. All in all, he was an ordinary man, distinguished only by his love of written words, which so many ironborn found unmanly and perverse.

“阿舅，”她关上身后的门，“什么书这么重要，让你丢下客人们不管？”

“Nuncle.” She closed the door behind her. “What reading was so urgent that you leave your guests without a host?”

“马尔温博士的《失落的书籍》。”他将视线从书页间抬起，仔细打量外甥女。“何索给我从旧镇捎来一本。他想要我娶他女儿。”罗德利克头领用长指甲敲敲书面。“看见没？马尔温声称找到《征兆与预示》的三页残篇，那是末日浩劫降临瓦雷利亚之前由伊娜尔·坦格利安的童贞女儿亲笔记录的各类幻象。嗯，兰妮知道你来了吗？”

“Archmaester Marwyn’s Book of Lost Books.” He lifted his gaze from the page to study her. “Hotho brought me a copy from Oldtown. He has a daughter he would have me wed.” Lord Rodrik tapped the book with a long nail. “See here? Marwyn claims to have found three pages of Signs and Portents, visions written down by the maiden daughter of Aenar Targaryen before the Doom came to Valyria. Does Lanny know that you are here?”

“我还没去见她。”兰妮是他对她母亲的昵称，只有“读书人”会如此称呼。“让她多休息休息吧。”阿莎将一叠书从凳子上移开，自己坐到上面。“‘三颗牙’又掉了两颗牙齿。你是不是该改叫她‘一颗牙’？”

“Not as yet.” Lanny was his pet name for her mother; only the Reader called her that. “Let her rest.” Asha moved a stack of books off a stool and seated herself. “Three-Tooth seems to have lost two more of her teeth. Do you call her One-Tooth now?”

“我根本不叫她。那女人让我发毛。几点了？”罗德利克头领瞥向窗外月光照耀的海面。“天黑了，这么快？我还没注意到。嗯，你迟到了，我们等了你几天。”

“I seldom call her at all. The woman frightens me. What hour is it?” Lord Rodrik glanced out the window, at the moonlit sea. “Dark, so soon? I had not noticed. You come late. We looked for you some days ago.”

“风向不利，我还有俘虏要操心——罗贝特·葛洛佛的妻子和孩子，最小的仍在吃奶，而渡海途中，葛洛佛夫人的奶水枯竭了。我别无选择，只好让黑风号停靠在磐石海岸，派人去找奶妈。结果他们找来一头山羊。那小女孩的状况不太好。村里有没奶妈？深林堡在我的计划中很重要。”

“The winds were against us, and I had captives to concern me. Robett Glover’s wife and children. The youngest is still at the breast, and Lady Glover’s milk dried up during our crossing. I had no choice but to beach Black Wind upon the Stony Shore and send my men out to find a wet nurse. They found a goat instead. The girl does not thrive. Is there a nursing mother in the village? Deepwood is important to my plans.”

“你的计划必须更改。你来得太迟了。”

“Your plans must change. You come too late.”

“是啊，太迟了，而且我好饿。”她将长腿在桌子底下伸展开，一边翻动手边的一本书，那是某修士记叙的“残酷”梅葛镇压“穷人集会”之战。“噢，也很渴。来杯爽口的麦酒吧，阿舅。”

“Late and hungry.” She stretched her long legs out beneath the table and turned the pages of the nearest book, a septon’s discourse on Maegor the Cruel’s war against the Poor Fellows. “Oh, and thirsty too. A horn of ale would go down well, Nuncle.”

罗德利克头领努了努嘴。“你知道我不允许在图书馆里饮食。这对于书——”

Lord Rodrik pursed his lips. “You know I do not permit food nor drink in my library. The books—”

“——是有害的。”阿莎哈哈大笑。

“—might suffer harm.” Asha laughed.

她舅舅皱起眉头。“你就喜欢挑衅我。”

Her uncle frowned. “You do like to provoke me.”

“噢，别那么委屈啦，你早知道，我对谁都是这样子。好，不说我，你最近怎样？”

“Oh, don’t look so aggrieved. I have never met a man I didn’t provoke, you should know that well enough by now. But enough of me. You are well?”

他耸耸肩。“还好。眼睛越来越不行了。我已差人去密尔弄副眼镜，以助阅读。”

He shrugged. “Well enough. My eyes grow weaker. I have sent to Myr for a lens to help me read.”

“我姨母呢？”

“And how fares my aunt?”

罗德利克头领叹口气，“她仍然比我大七岁，仍然相信十塔城属于她。关妮丝什么都健忘，唯独这件事忘不了。她还在为丈夫哀悼，跟他死的时候一模一样，虽然她已记不清楚他的名字。”

Lord Rodrik sighed. “Still seven years my elder, and convinced Ten Towers should be hers. Gwynesse grows forgetful, but that she does not forget. She mourns for her dead husband as deeply as she did the day he died, though she cannot always recall his name.”

“她也许从头到尾都不晓得他的名字。”阿莎“砰”的一声合上修士的书。“我爸是被谋杀的吗？”

“I am not certain she ever knew his name.” Asha closed the septon’s book with a thump. “Was my father murdered?”

“你母亲相信是。”

“So your mother believes.”

有时候，她宁愿亲手把他杀了，她心想。“那我阿舅相信什么？”

There were times when she would gladly have murdered him herself, she thought. “And what does my nuncle believe?”

“索桥断了，巴隆坠落身亡。当风暴来临时，派克城的桥并不稳固。”罗德利克耸耸肩。“至少我们知道的是这样。你母亲收到温达米尔学士送来的鸟儿。”

“Balon fell to his death when a rope bridge broke beneath him. A storm was rising, and the bridge was swaying and twisting with each gust of wind.” Rodrik shrugged. “Or so we are told. Your mother had a bird from Maester Wendamyr.”

阿莎抽出匕首，清理指甲下的污垢。“鸦眼走了三年，刚好在我父亲死的那天回来。”

Asha slid her dirk out of its sheath and began to clean the dirt from beneath her fingernails. “Three years away, and the Crow’s Eye returns the very day my father dies.”

“准确地讲，是第二天。巴隆逝世时，宁静号仍在海上，至少他们如此宣称。虽然如此，我也觉得攸伦回来得太……及时了，可以这么说吧……”

“The day after, we had heard. Silence was still out to sea when Balon died, or so it is claimed. Even so, I will agree that Euron’s return was … timely, shall we say?”

“我可不会这么说。”阿莎将匕首尖插入桌面。“我的船呢，阿舅？我数了数，城下仅停泊着四十艘长船，远远不足以把鸦眼从父亲的王位上赶走。”

“That is not how I would say it.” Asha slammed the point of the dirk into the table. “Where are my ships? I counted twoscore longships moored below, not near enough to throw the Crow’s Eye off my father’s chair.”

“我发出了召唤，以你的名义，为了我对你和你母亲的爱。哈尔洛家族已经到齐，外加斯通垂家族和沃马克家族，以及密瑞家族的一部分……”

“I sent the summons. In your name, for the love I bear you and your mother. House Harlaw has gathered. Stonetree as well, and Volmark. Some Myres …”

“统统来自哈尔洛岛……七大岛屿中的一座。大厅里，只有一面波特利的旗帜来自派克岛。盐崖岛呢？橡岛呢？两个威克岛呢？这些船在哪里？”

“All from the isle of Harlaw … one isle out of seven. I saw one lonely Botley banner in the hall, from Pyke. Where are the ships from Saltcliffe, from Orkwood, from the Wyks?”

“贝勒·布莱克泰斯从黑潮岛赶来找我谈过，随后又立刻扬帆离开。”罗德利克头领合上《失落的书籍》。“他现在到了老威克岛。”

“Baelor Blacktyde came from Blacktyde to consult with me, and just as soon set sail again.” Lord Rodrik closed The Book of Lost Books. “He is on Old Wyk by now.”

“老威克岛？”阿莎本来担心他们全去了派克岛，向鸦眼臣服。“为什么？”

“Old Wyk?” Asha had feared he was about to say that they all had gone to Pyke, to do homage to the Crow’s Eye. “Why Old Wyk?”

“我以为你已经听说了。伊伦·湿发号召举行选王会。”

“I thought you would have heard. Aeron Damphair has called a kingsmoot.”

阿莎仰头大笑，“淹神一定是把刺棘鱼塞进了伊伦叔叔的屁眼里。选王会？他开玩笑还是来真的？”

Asha threw back her head and laughed. “The Drowned God must have shoved a pricklefish up Uncle Aeron’s arse. A kingsmoot? Is this some jape, or does he mean it truly?”

“湿发自从被淹之后就没开过玩笑。僧侣们都响应他的号召，其中包括盲人贝隆·布莱克泰斯，‘三淹人’塔勒……甚至老灰鸥也离开了居住的礁石，在哈尔洛岛上到处宣讲选王会。我们说话这会儿，船长们正往老威克岛聚集呢。”

“The Damphair has not japed since he was drowned. And the other priests have taken up the call. Blind Beron Blacktyde, Tarle the Thrice-Drowned … even the Old Grey Gull has left that rock he lives on to preach this kingsmoot all across Harlaw. The captains are gathering on Old Wyk as we speak.”

阿莎十分惊讶，“鸦眼竟同意参与这出圣洁的闹剧，企图经由选举来巩固地位？”

Asha was astonished. “Has the Crow’s Eye agreed to attend this holy farce and abide by its decision?”

“鸦眼的打算我可不晓得。他曾传我去派克岛投诚效忠，之后就没消息了。”

“The Crow’s Eye does not confide in me. Since he summoned me to Pyke to do him homage, I have had no word from Euron.”

选王会。这是件新鲜事……更确切地说，是非常古老的事。“维克塔利昂叔叔呢？他认为湿发的主意如何？”

A kingsmoot. This is something new … or rather, something very old. “And my uncle Victarion? What does he make of the Damphair’s notion?”

“他们给维克塔利昂带去了你父亲的死讯，也带去了选王会的消息。除此之外，我什么也不知道。”

“Victarion was sent word of your father’s death. And of this kingsmoot too, I do not doubt. Beyond that, I cannot say.”

选王会好歹比开战强。“我想我该亲吻湿发的臭脚丫，帮他把趾缝里的海藻舔干净。”阿莎拔下匕首，收回入鞘。“妈的，好个刺激的选王会！”

Better a kingsmoot than a war. “I believe I’ll kiss the Damphair’s smelly feet and pluck the seaweed from out between his toes.” Asha wrenched loose her dirk and sheathed it once again. “A bloody kingsmoot!”

“老威克岛上的选王会，”罗德利克确认，“但我祈祷别太刺激。我查了海瑞格的《铁岛史》。上一次海盐王和磐岩王们在选王会碰面时，橡岛的乌伦派斧手大开杀戒，娜伽的肋骨被鲜血染红。在那黑暗的一天后，葛雷艾恩家族未经选举便统治了一千年，直到安达尔人到来。”

“On Old Wyk,” confirmed Lord Rodrik. “Though I pray it is not bloody. I have been consulting Haereg’s History of the Ironborn. When last the salt kings and the rock kings met in kingsmoot, Urron of Orkmont let his axemen loose among them, and Nagga’s ribs turned red with gore. House Greyiron ruled unchosen for a thousand years from that dark day, until the Andals came.”

“你把海瑞格的书借给我，阿舅。”到达老威克岛之前，她得尽可能了解选王会的一切。

“You must lend me Haereg’s book, Nuncle.” She would need to learn all she could of kingsmoots before she reached Old Wyk.

“你就在这里看，这本书太老太脆弱。”他皱起眉头打量她，“罗德尼博士曾写道，时光就像轮子，人的本性不会改变，从前发生过的必然会再度发生。看到鸦眼，我不能不联想到这番话。在我这双老耳朵听来，攸伦·葛雷乔伊跟乌伦·葛雷艾恩实在太像。我不去老威克岛。你也别去。”

“You may read it here. It is old and fragile.” He studied her, frowning. “Archmaester Rigney once wrote that history is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again, he said. I think of that whenever I contemplate the Crow’s Eye. Euron Greyjoy sounds queerly like Urron Greyiron to these old ears. I shall not go to Old Wyk. Nor should you.”

阿莎微微一笑，“错过选王会……这是多久以来的第一次啊，阿舅？”

Asha smiled. “And miss the first kingsmoot called in … how long has it been, Nuncle?”

“四千年，假如相信海瑞格的话，按德内斯坦学士在《提问集》中的说法，这个时间得减半。无论如何，去老威克岛没有意义，梦想称王乃是我们血统中的疯狂。你父亲第一次起事时我就告诉过他，现在我也要告诫你。我们需要土地，不需要王冠。史坦尼斯·拜拉席恩和泰温·兰尼斯特正在争夺铁王座，这是千载难逢的扩张机会。选择其中一方，用舰队助其胜利，我们就可获得大片领地的赐封。”

“Four thousand years, if Haereg can be believed. Half that, if you accept Maester Denestan’s arguments in Questions. Going to Old Wyk serves no purpose. This dream of kingship is a madness in our blood. I told your father so the first time he rose, and it is more true now than it was then. It’s land we need, not crowns. With Stannis Baratheon and Tywin Lannister contending for the Iron Throne, we have a rare chance to improve our lot. Let us take one side or the other, help them to victory with our fleets, and claim the lands we need from a grateful king.”

“等我坐上父亲的海石之位，也许会考虑考虑。”阿莎道。

“That might be worth some thought, once I sit the Seastone Chair,” said Asha.

她舅舅叹口气。“我的话你不爱听，阿莎，但我必须坦白，你是选不上的。没有女性统治过铁民。你瞧，关妮丝确实长我七岁，但我们的父亲去世后，十塔城由我继承。你也一样。你是巴隆的女儿，不是他的儿子。况且你有三个叔叔。”

Her uncle sighed. “You will not want to hear this, Asha, but you will not be chosen. No woman has ever ruled the ironborn. Gwynesse is seven years my elder, but when our father died the Ten Towers came to me. It will be the same for you. You are Balon’s daughter, not his son. And you have three uncles.”

“还有舅舅。”

“Four.”

“三个海怪家族的叔叔。我不在内。”

“Three kraken uncles. I do not count.”

“对我来说不一样。十塔城由我亲爱的阿舅掌管，我便拥有哈尔洛岛。”哈尔洛岛并非铁群岛中最大的岛，却最富有、人口最稠密，而且罗德利克头领的实力不容小觑。哈尔洛岛由哈尔洛家族一家称雄，沃马克家和斯通垂家虽在岛上拥有有大量土地，麾下更养了许多出名的船长和勇士，但其中最勇猛者也得在镰刀旗下折腰。肯宁和密瑞两家曾是哈尔洛的劲敌，然而很久之前已被制伏，成为属臣。

“You do with me. So long as I have my nuncle of Ten Towers, I have Harlaw.” Harlaw was not the largest of the Iron Islands, but it was the richest and most populous, and Lord Rodrik’s power was not to be despised. On Harlaw, Harlaw had no rival. The Volmarks and Stonetrees had large holdings on the isle and boasted famous captains and fierce warriors of their own, but even the fiercest bent beneath the scythe. The Kennings and the Myres, once bitter foes, had long ago been beaten down to vassals.

“我的亲戚们对我效忠，一旦开战，我能动用他们的军队与船只。但在选王会上……”罗德利克头领摇摇头，“在娜伽的骨骸底下，每位船长都是平等的。有人会呼喊你的名字，对此我并不怀疑，但那呼声不会太响亮。而当维克塔利昂或鸦眼的呼声响起时，有些现在在我大厅里喝酒的人也会加入。我再说一遍，不要驶入这场风暴。你的抗争毫无希望。”

“My cousins do me fealty, and in war I should command their swords and sails. In kingsmoot, though …” Lord Rodrik shook his head. “Beneath the bones of Nagga every captain stands as equal. Some may shout your name, I do not doubt it. But not enough. And when the shouts ring out for Victarion or the Crow’s Eye, some of those now drinking in my hall will join the rest. I say again, do not sail into this storm. Your fight is hopeless.”

“不试一试怎么知道毫无希望？毕竟，我的顺位在先，理当成为巴隆的继承人。”

“No fight is hopeless till it has been fought. I have the best claim. I am the heir of Balon’s body.”

“你还是个任性的孩子。想想你可怜的母亲吧，兰妮只剩下你了。如有必要，我会将黑风号付之一炬，把你留下。”

“You are still a willful child. Think of your poor mother. You are all that Lanny has left to her. I will put a torch to Black Wind if need be, to keep you here.”

“什么，你让我游到老威克岛去？”

“What, and make me swim to Old Wyk?”

“游过浩瀚冰冷的汪洋大海，为一顶你留不住的王冠。孩子，你父亲的勇气多于理智，古道曾适用于铁群岛，因为当时我们是诸多小王国之一。可惜伊耿的征服终结了割据局面，巴隆为何视而不见呢？古道已随着‘黑心’赫伦和他的儿子们一起消亡了。”

“A long cold swim, for a crown you cannot keep. Your father had more courage than sense. The Old Way served the isles well when we were one small kingdom amongst many, but Aegon’s Conquest put an end to that. Balon refused to see what was plain before him. The Old Way died with Black Harren and his sons.”

“这我明白。”阿莎爱着父亲，但她不会自欺欺人。巴隆在某些方面确实盲目又轻率。他很勇敢，但不是个好领袖。“你的意思是，咱们得生生世世当铁王座的奴仆喽？听着，如果右舷有礁石，左舷有风暴，睿智的船长会转向第三条路。”

“I know that.” Asha had loved her father, but she did not delude herself. Balon had been blind in some respects. A brave man but a bad lord. “Does that mean we must live and die as thralls to the Iron Throne? If there are rocks to starboard and a storm to port, a wise captain steers a third course.”

“告诉我，第三条路在哪儿？”

“Show me this third course.”

“我会告诉你……在我的女王会上。阿舅，你怎么会有不去参加的念头呢？这将成为历史，活的历史……”

“I shall … at my queensmoot. Nuncle, how can you even think of not attending? This will be history, alive …”

“我更喜欢死的历史。死的历史用墨水书写，活的历史则用鲜血。”

“I prefer my history dead. Dead history is writ in ink, the living sort in blood.”

“难道你想懦弱地老死在病床上吗？”

“Do you want to die old and craven in your bed?”

“还能怎样？只要先读饱了书。”罗德利克头领走到窗边。“你没询问你的母亲大人。”

“How else? Though not till I’m done reading.” Lord Rodrik went to the window. “You have not asked about your lady mother.”

我害怕。“她怎么样？”

I was afraid. “How is she?”

“她的身体好起来了，或许会比我们活得都久——假如你执意要干这件蠢事，这是显而易见的结果。啊，她比刚来时吃得多，也常常能睡一整晚。”

“Stronger. She may yet outlive us all. She will certainly outlive you, if you persist in this folly. She eats more than she did when she first came here, and oft sleeps through the night.”

“很好。”亚拉妮丝夫人在派克岛的最后几年不仅一直失眠，而且晚上会在各个大厅中夜游，拿着蜡烛寻找儿子们。“马伦？”她会尖叫着呼唤，“罗德利克，你在哪儿？席恩，我的宝贝，来妈妈这儿。”阿莎多次在清晨看着学士从母亲脚跟里拔出木刺，因为她光着脚穿过摇摇晃晃的木板桥走去海中塔。“明天早晨我就去看她。”

“Good.” In her final years on Pyke, Lady Alannys could not sleep. She would wander the halls at night with a candle, looking for her sons. “Maron?” she would call shrilly. “Rodrik, where are you? Theon, my baby, come to Mother.” Many a time Asha had watched the maester draw splinters from her mother’s heels of a morning, after she had crossed the swaying plank bridge to the Sea Tower on bare feet. “I will see her in the morning.”

“她会问起席恩。”

“She will ask for word of Theon.”

临冬城亲王。“你怎么告诉她的？”

The Prince of Winterfell. “What have you told her?”

“少之又少。没讲什么。”他犹豫了一下。“你肯定他死了？”

“Little and less. There was naught to tell.” He hesitated. “You are certain that he is dead?”

“我什么也不肯定。”

“I am certain of nothing.”

“你有没有找到尸体？”

“You found a body?”

“我们找到许多尸体的碎片。狼群先到……四条腿的那种，而它们似乎不怎么尊重两条腿的同胞。被害者的骨头撒了一地，而且被咬开舔食骨髓。我承认，很难搞清楚发生了什么。好像是北方人内讧。”

“We found parts of many bodies. The wolves were there before us … the four-legged sort, but they showed scant reverence for their two-legged kin. The bones of the slain were scattered, cracked open for their marrow. I confess, it was hard to know what happened there. It seemed as though the northmen fought amongst themselves.”

“乌鸦抢夺腐肉，为死者的眼睛互相厮杀。”罗德利克头领望向海面，注视着波浪中闪烁的月光。“我们本来有一个国王，然后是五个。现在只有乌鸦，吵吵闹闹地争夺这具名叫维斯特洛的尸体。”他关上窗。“别去老威克岛，阿莎，待在母亲身边。我担心她没多少日子了。”

“Crows will fight over a dead man’s flesh and kill each other for his eyes.” Lord Rodrik stared across the sea, watching the play of moonlight on the waves. “We had one king, then five. Now all I see are crows, squabbling over the corpse of Westeros.” He fastened the shutters. “Do not go to Old Wyk, Asha. Stay with your mother. We shall not have her long, I fear.”

阿莎在椅子里挪了挪，“母亲抚养我长大，教我要勇敢。我若不去，有生之年就会老想着，如果去了会是什么样。”

Asha shifted in her seat. “My mother raised me to be bold. If I do not go, I will spend the rest of my life wondering what might have happened if I had.”

“若是去了，你或许根本不存在什么‘有生之年’，连想的机会都没了。”

“If you do go, the rest of your life may be too short for wondering.”

“那也比下半辈子整天抱怨海石之位的权利照规矩应属于我要强。我不是关妮丝。”

“Better that than fill the remainder of my days complaining that the Seastone Chair by rights was mine. I am no Gwynesse.”

这让他怔了一下。“阿莎，我那两个高大的儿子在仙女岛喂了螃蟹。我不大可能再婚。你若留下，我就指定你为十塔城继承人。满足吧。”

That made him wince. “Asha, my two tall sons fed the crabs of Fair Isle. I am not like to wed again. Stay, and I shall name you heir to the Ten Towers. Be content with that.”

“十塔城？”真的吗？“你的亲属是不会喜欢的。‘骑士’、老西格弗里德、‘驼背’何索……”

“Ten Towers?” Would that I could. “Your cousins will not like that. The Knight, old Sigfryd, Hotho Humpback …”

“他们有自己的土地和居城。”

“They have lands and seats of their own.”

那是没错。潮湿腐朽的哈尔洛厅给了“银发”老西格弗里德·哈尔洛；“驼背”何索·哈尔洛的居城是闪光塔，位于西岸的悬崖上。“骑士”赫拉斯·哈尔洛爵士坐镇灰园堡；“蓝衣”博蒙德在赫利丹岭上统治。“博蒙德有三个儿子，‘银发’西格弗里德有诸多孙子，而何索有野心，”阿莎说，“他们都想继承你，甚至包括西格弗里德本人。那家伙满心希望长命百岁。”

True enough. Damp, decaying Harlaw Hall belonged to old Sigfryd Harlaw the Silverhair; humpbacked Hotho Harlaw had his seat at the Tower of Glimmering, on a crag above the western coast. The Knight, Ser Harras Harlaw, kept court at Grey Garden; Boremund the Blue ruled atop Harridan Hill. But each was subject to Lord Rodrik. “Boremund has three sons, Sigfryd Silverhair has grandsons, and Hotho has ambitions,” Asha said. “They all mean to follow you, even Sigfryd. That one intends to live forever.”

“‘骑士’将继我之后成为哈尔洛岛头领，”舅舅宣布，“条件是在灰园堡发号施令。你以十塔城的名义向他效忠，赫拉斯爵士便会保护你。”

“The Knight will be the Lord of Harlaw after me,” her uncle said, “but he can rule from Grey Garden as easily as from here. Do fealty to him for the castle and Ser Harras will protect you.”

“我自己保护自己。阿舅，我是海怪，葛雷乔伊家族的阿莎。”她站起身。“我要父亲的王位，不要你的交椅。哈，你那些镰刀看起来挺危险，也许会有一把掉下来割掉我的脑袋。不，我要海石之位。”

“I can protect myself. Nuncle, I am a kraken. Asha, of House Greyjoy.” She pushed to her feet. “It’s my father’s seat I want, not yours. Those scythes of yours look perilous. One could fall and slice my head off. No, I’ll sit the Seastone Chair.”

“你不过是又一只乌鸦，尖叫着争夺腐肉的乌鸦。”罗德利克坐回桌子后面。“你走吧。我要继续拜读马尔温博士的著作。”

“Then you are just another crow, screaming for carrion.” Rodrik sat again behind his table. “Go. I wish to return to Archmaester Marwyn and his search.”

“要是有新发现，记得讲给我听。”舅舅就是舅舅，从来不会变。不管他嘴上说什么，他都会去老威克岛。

“Let me know if he should find another page.” Her uncle was her uncle. He would never change. But he will come to Old Wyk, no matter what he says.

她的船员们已在大厅里用饭。阿莎必须加入他们，把老威克岛会议的性质和意义讲清楚。不用怀疑，她的人会坚定地追随她，但她还得争取其他人：哈尔洛家族的亲戚，沃马克家和斯通垂家……第一步，要把能利用的资源统统争取过来。她在深林堡的胜利为她做了最好的注脚，她的手下会大肆炫耀——黑风号的船员素来对于女船长的事迹抱有一种奇妙的骄傲。其中半数人像爱女儿一样爱她，另一半人则想分开她的双腿，但两类人都甘愿为她而死。我也愿意为他们而死，她边想边推开楼梯底部的门，踱进月光照洒的庭院。

By now her crew would be eating in the hall. Asha knew she ought to join them, to speak of this gathering on Old Wyk and what it meant for them. Her own men would be solidly behind her, but she would need the rest as well, her Harlaw cousins, the Volmarks, and the Stonetrees. Those are the ones I must win. Her victory at Deepwood Motte would serve her in good stead, once her men began to boast of it, as she knew they would. The crew of her Black Wind took a perverse pride in the deeds of their woman captain. Half of them loved her like a daughter, and other half wanted to spread her legs, but either sort would die for her. And I for them, she was thinking as she shouldered through the door at the bottom of the steps, into the moonlit yard.

“阿莎？”一个黑影从水井后面走出来。

“Asha?” A shadow stepped out from behind the well.

她的手立即伸向匕首……直到月光将黑影转化为一个穿海豹皮斗篷的男子。又一个鬼魂。“特里斯。我在大厅没见到你。”

Her hand went to her dirk at once … until the moonlight transformed the dark shape into a man in a sealskin cloak. Another ghost. “Tris. I’d thought to find you in the hall.”

“我想看看你。”

“I wanted to see you.”

“看我的哪一部分呢，嘻嘻？”她咧嘴笑道。“好吧，我就在这儿，我长大了。请随便看。”

“What part of me, I wonder?” She grinned. “Well, here I stand, all grown up. Look all you like.”

“你成了女人，”他靠过来，“而且很美。”

“A woman.” He moved closer. “And beautiful.”

跟上次见面时相比，特里斯蒂芬·波特利魁梧多了，但仍拥有记忆中那杂乱的头发和海豹般率真的大眼睛。一双温柔的眼睛，真的。然而这是可怜的特里斯蒂芬的不幸，身为铁民，他过于温柔了。不过，现在他的脸出落得标致，她心想。特里斯在孩童时代饱受粉刺困扰，阿莎也是；也许就是这点将他俩拉到了一起。

Tristifer Botley had filled out since last she’d seen him, but he had the same unruly hair that she remembered, and eyes as large and trusting as a seal’s. Sweet eyes, truly. That was the trouble with poor Tristifer; he was too sweet for the Iron Islands. His face has grown comely, she thought. As a boy Tris had been much troubled by pimples. Asha had suffered the same affliction; perhaps that had been what drew them together.

“你父亲的事我很难过。”她告诉他。

“I was sorry to hear about your father,” she told him.

“我也为你的父亲悲哀。”

“I grieve for yours.”

为什么？阿莎差点问出来。小时候，正是巴隆把他送出派克岛，给贝勒·布莱克泰斯当养子。“你当真是波特利头领了？”

Why? Asha almost asked. It was Balon who’d sent the boy away from Pyke, to be a ward of Baelor Blacktyde’s. “Is it true you are Lord Botley now?”

“至少名义上是。赫伦死在卡林湾，他被沼泽魔鬼用毒箭射死。然而，我这个头领目前一无所有。我父亲拒绝承认鸦眼的王位，鸦眼便淹死了他，并迫使我的叔叔们宣誓效忠。在那之后，他又将我父亲一半的土地给了铁林城，因为温奇头领第一个向他屈膝，尊他为王。”

“In name, at least. Harren died at Moat Cailin. One of the bog devils shot him with a poisoned arrow. But I am the lord of nothing. When my father denied his claim to the Seastone Chair, the Crow’s Eye drowned him and made my uncles swear him fealty. Even after that he gave half my father’s lands to Iron Holt. Lord Wynch was the first man to bend his knee and call him king.”

温奇家族在派克岛上势力强盛，但阿莎不愿流露出沮丧。“温奇没有你父亲的勇气。”

House Wynch was strong on Pyke, but Asha took care not to let her dismay show. “Wynch never had your father’s courage.”

“你叔叔收买了他，”特里斯道，“宁静号回来时，货舱中装满了财宝：镀金盘子，珍珠，鸡蛋那么大的绿宝石、红宝石和蓝宝石，一袋袋没人提得动的钱币……鸦眼利用一切机会贿赂收买。我叔叔吉蒙德如今自称为波特利头领，在你叔叔庇护下统治君王港。”

“Your uncle bought him,” Tris said. “The Silence returned with holds full of treasure. Plate and pearls, emeralds and rubies, sapphires big as eggs, bags of coin so heavy that no man can lift them … the Crow’s Eye has been buying friends at every hand. My uncle Germund calls himself Lord Botley now, and rules in Lordsport as your uncle’s man.”

“别担心，照权利，你才是波特利头领，”她向他保证，“我坐上海石之位后，立即归还你父亲的土地。”

“You are the rightful Lord Botley,” she assured him. “Once I hold the Seastone Chair, your father’s lands shall be restored.”

“只要你喜欢。其实这对我来说没什么意义。噢，月光下的你真可爱，阿莎。如今你成年了，但在我记忆中，你仍是那个骨瘦如柴、一脸粉刺的小女孩。”

“If you like. It’s nought to me. You look so lovely in the moonlight, Asha. A woman grown now, but I remember when you were a skinny girl with a face all full of pimples.”

干吗老提起粉刺？“我也记得。”但不像你那么喜欢。艾德·史塔克带走她母亲唯一在世的儿子作为人质之后，她母亲迫不及待地收养了五个男孩，一同到派克城中生活。特里斯的年龄跟阿莎最近。他不是她亲吻的第一个男孩，却是他头一个解开她上衣衣带，用汗津津的手触摸她萌芽的乳房。

Why must they always mention the pimples? “I remember that as well.” Though not as fondly as you do. Of the five boys her mother had brought to Pyke to foster after Ned Stark had taken her last living son as hostage, Tris had been closest to Asha in age. He had not been the first boy she had ever kissed, but he was the first to undo the laces of her jerkin and slip a sweaty hand beneath to feel her budding breasts.

要是当年的他胆子够大，我会让他触摸更多。她的初潮出现在战争期间，唤醒了欲望，而在那之前，阿莎对鱼水之欢已很好奇。他在合适的时间出现在合适的地点，跟我又年龄相仿，也乐意尝试，仅此而已……外加经血的刺激。当时，她称之为爱，直到特里斯开始谈论要她给他生孩子；至少一打儿子，噢，还要些女儿。“我不要一打儿子，”她惊骇地通知他，“我要去冒险。”不久之后，魁伦学士发现他们在一起，于是年轻的特里斯蒂芬·波特利被送往黑潮岛。

I would have let him feel more than that if he’d been bold enough. Her first flowering had come upon her during the war and wakened her desire, but even before that Asha had been curious. He was there, he was mine own age, and he was willing, that was all it was … that, and the moon blood. Even so, she’d called it love, till Tris began to go on about the children she would bear him; a dozen sons at least, and oh, some daughters too. “I don’t want to have a dozen sons,” she had told him, appalled. “I want to have adventures.” Not long after, Maester Qalen found them at their play, and young Tristifer Botley was sent away to Blacktyde.

“我给你写过信，”他说，“但约瑟兰学士不愿发出去。有回，我给一个桨手一枚银鹿币，他所在的商船要去君王港，他承诺会把我的信交到你手上。”

“I wrote you letters,” he said, “but Maester Joseran would not send them. Once I gave a stag to an oarsman on a trader bound for Lordsport, who promised to put my letter in your hands.”

“你的桨手把你耍了，他将你的信扔进了海里。”

“Your oarsman winkled you and threw your letter in the sea.”

“我正担心如此。他们同样没给过我你的信。”

“I feared as much. They never gave me your letters either.”

我一封也没写过。事实上，特里斯被送走，她松了一口气。他的摸索已令她厌烦起来。然而这不是他喜欢听的话。“伊伦·湿发号召举行选王会。你会来支持我吗？”

I wrote none. In truth, she had been relieved when Tris was sent away. By then his fumblings had begun to bore her. That was not something he would care to hear, however. “Aeron Damphair has called a kingsmoot. Will you come and speak for me?”

“无论你做什么，我都会支持你，可……布莱克泰斯头领说选王会是场危险的把戏。他认为你叔叔会袭击大家，把所有人杀光，像乌伦那样。”

“I will go anywhere with you, but … Lord Blacktyde says this kingsmoot is a dangerous folly. He thinks your uncle will descend on them and kill them all, as Urron did.”

他没疯狂到那种地步。“他没那实力。”

He’s mad enough. “He lacks the strength.”

“你不了解，他正在派克岛上纠集人马。橡岛的奥克伍家族带给他二十艘长船，‘长脸’琼恩·密瑞带去十二艘，‘左手’卢卡斯·考德也支持他。还有‘半血霍尔’赫伦、‘红桨手’、‘杂种’克梅特·派克、‘自由民’罗德利克、‘褐牙’托沃德……”

“You do not know his strength. He’s been gathering men on Pyke. Orkwood of Orkmont brought him twenty longships, and Pinchface Jon Myre a dozen. Left-Hand Lucas Codd is with them. And Harren Half-Hoare, the Red Oarsman, Kemmett Pyke the Bastard, Rodrik Freeborn, Torwold Browntooth …”

“都是无足轻重之辈。”阿莎了解他们每一个，“盐妾所生，奴工的子孙后代。哼，考德家族……你知道他们的箴言吗？”

“Men of small account.” Asha knew them, every one. “The sons of salt wives, the grandsons of thralls. The Codds … do you know their words?”

“不屑鄙视，”特里斯念道，“但假如被他们抓住，你就跟落在龙王手中一样凄惨。还有更糟的呢，鸦眼从东方带回了怪兽……哦，还有巫师。”

“Though All Men Do Despise Us,” Tris said, “but if they catch you in those nets of theirs, you’ll be as dead as if they had been dragonlords. And there’s worse. The Crow’s Eye brought back monsters from the east … aye, and wizards too.”

“阿叔喜欢稀奇古怪的东西，”阿莎说，“我父亲为此多次跟他争吵。让他的巫师见鬼去吧，你忘了么？我们有湿发，有淹神。够了，在我的女王会上，我究竟能不能得到你的支持，特里斯？”

“Nuncle always had a fondness for freaks and fools,” said Asha. “My father used to fight with him about it. Let the wizards call upon their gods. The Damphair will call on ours, and drown them. Will I have your voice at the queensmoot, Tris?”

“我会全力支持你。我是你的人，永远永远。阿莎，我要跟你结婚。你母亲已经同意了。”

“You shall have all of me. I am your man, forever. Asha, I would wed you. Your lady mother has given her consent.”

她抑制住一声呻吟。你应该先来问我……尽管我的回答你一点也不会喜欢。

She stifled a groan. You might have asked me first … though you might not have liked the answer half so well.

“我不是次子了，”他续道，“正如你说的，我已是合法的波特利头领。而你——”

“I am no second son now,” he went on. “I am the rightful Lord Botley, as you said yourself. And you are—”

“我的身份将在老威克岛决定。特里斯，我们并非互相摸索探求的小孩子了。你以为自己想娶我，其实不然。”

“What I am will be settled on Old Wyk. Tris, we are no longer children fumbling at each other and trying to see what fits where. You think you want to wed me, but you don’t.”

“我确实想，真的想，你是我所有的梦想。阿莎，我以娜伽的骨头的名义发誓，我没碰过其他女人。”

“I do. All I dream about is you. Asha, I swear upon the bones of Nagga, I have never touched another woman.”

“那就去碰吧，一个……两个，十个，对我来说都无所谓。告诉你，我碰过的男人数都数不清。有的用唇，有的用斧。”她在十六岁时将贞操给了里斯商船上某位英俊的金发水手。此人只懂六个通用语词汇，“干”是其中一个——她想听的就是这个词。后来，阿莎学会了去找森林女巫，泡制月茶，好让肚子不鼓起来。

“Go touch one … or two, or ten. I have touched more men than I can count. Some with my lips, more with my axe.” She had surrendered her virtue at six-and-ten, to a beautiful blond-haired sailor on a trading galley up from Lys. He only knew six words of the Common Tongue, but “fuck” was one of them—the very word she’d hoped to hear. Afterward, Asha had the sense to find a woods witch, who showed her how to brew moon tea to keep her belly flat.

波特利眨眨眼，仿佛不理解她的话。“你……我以为你会等。为什么……”他揉揉嘴巴。“阿莎，你是被逼的吗？”

Botley blinked, as if he did not quite understand what she had said. “You … I thought you would wait. Why …” He rubbed his mouth. “Asha, were you forced?”

“哼，我逼着他撕开上衣。你不会想娶我的，相信我吧。你是个可爱的男孩，一直如此，但我不是个可爱的女孩。假如我们结婚，你很快就会恨我。”

“So forced I tore his tunic. You do not want to wed me, take my word on that. You are a sweet boy and always were, but I am no sweet girl. If we wed, soon enough you’d come to hate me.”

“不，决不。阿莎，我为你心痛。”

“Never. Asha, I have ached for you.”

她听够了。病态的母亲，被害的父亲，一帮强横的叔叔，足以让任何女人应接不暇；她不需要再多一条害相思病的小狗。“找个妓女，特里斯。她会治愈你的心痛。”

She had heard enough of this. A sickly mother, a murdered father, and a plague of uncles were enough for any woman to contend with; she did not require a lovesick puppy too. “Find a brothel, Tris. They’ll cure you of that ache.”

“我永远无法……”特里斯蒂芬摇摇头。“你和我注定要在一起，阿莎。我一直认为你将成为我的妻子，成为我儿子的母亲。”他抓住她的胳膊。

“I could never …” Tristifer shook his head. “You and I were meant to be, Asha. I have always known you would be my wife, and the mother of my sons.” He seized her upper arm.

眨眼工夫，她的匕首已抵住他喉咙。“放开我，否则你活不到生儿子。快。”等他松手，她放低刀子。“你想要女人，很好。今晚我会丢一个到你床上。假装她是我吧，要是那样能让你高兴的话。但不要再冒昧地碰我。我是你的女王，不是你老婆。记住。”阿莎将匕首回鞘，留下特里斯呆立原地，一大滴血从他脖子上缓缓地流淌下来，在苍白的月光中呈现黑色。

In a blink her dirk was at his throat. “Take your hand away or you won’t live long enough to breed a son. Now.” When he did, she lowered the blade. “You want a woman, well and good. I’ll put one in your bed tonight. Pretend she’s me, if that will give you pleasure, but do not presume to grab at me again. I am your queen, not your wife. Remember that.” Asha sheathed her dirk and left him standing there, with a fat drop of blood slowly creeping down his neck, black in the pale light of the moon.