"Tomorrow you'll ride south to the Stormlands." "I need you to negotiate with Renly Baratheon." "we'll outnumber them two to one." "I am glad your new friend was able to accompany you to the capital." "But I am very good at keeping secrets from my good friends." "Your discretion is legendary." "You in command here?" "I have a royal warrant for one of these gutter rats you're transporting." "We're looking for a boy named Gendry." "We'll be back with more men." "This is Gilly." "She's one of Craster's daughters." "We have to take her with us when we leave." "I'm going to have a baby." "If it's a boy... what? I just wouldn't feel safe with you lurking about." " The queen herself..." " The queen regent." "And you're a fool to believe she is your friend." "I hope you enjoy the Wall." "I have friends at court!" "To the new Commander." "I need to get to Pyke." "Lord Greyjoy." "I destroy Robb Stark's enemies for him and he will make me king of the Iron Islands once again." "you will?" "who else?" "Yara?" "brother." " She can't lead an attack!" "She's commanded men." "She's killed men." "No man gives me a crown." "I will take my crown." "all of you." "Bastard's been meddling where he shouldn't!" "I want you and your men gone." "And you will make this right." "Wait outside." " Lord Commander." " Now!" " Lord Commander." " Leave us." "What did you do?" "I followed him." "the newborn." "What business is that of yours?" "you don't understand." "all the boys." "You know." "The wildlings serve crueler Gods than you or I." "Those boys are Craster's offerings." "Offerings?" "He's murdering his own children." "He's a monster." "many a time that monster has been the difference between life and death for our rangers." "Your uncle among them." "We have other wars to fight out there." "we need men like Craster." "I..." "I saw it." "I saw... something take that child." "Yeah." "I daresay you'll see it again." "Now ready my horse." "We leave at dawn." "Don't lose it again." "Gilly." "You're leaving." "I..." "I wanted to give you something." "It belonged to my mother." " I can't take it." " Please." "I want you to." "My mother used it for sewing." "She'd let me sit with her in her chamber while she sewed and I'd read to her." "My father put a stop to it when he found out." "It's the only thing I have of hers." "She gave it to me before I left for the Wall." "You... you shouldn't give it away." "I'm not giving it away." "I'm giving it to you." "Keep it safe for me." "Till I come back." "Hodor." "Hodor." "will you?" "It's time for his lessons." "Every night it's the same." "I'm walking but..." "I'm not..." "I'm not me. howling." "Old Nan used to tell me stories about magical people who could live wolves." "Bran... stories." " So she was lying?" "they may have done." "But they're gone from the world along with much else. nothing more." "my dreams are different." "Mine are true." "I dreamt of my father dying." "And Rickon had the same dream." "What about all the dreams you had that didn't come true?" "Hmm?" "Right." "This link is made of Valyrian steel." "Only one Maester in 100 wears it on his chain." "It signifies that I have studied the higher mysteries." "And all who study these mysteries try their hand at spells." "I was no different." "I was young." "And what boy doesn't secretly wish for hidden powers to lift him out of his dull life into a special one? 000 boys before me." "Come on." "All right." "Maybe magic once was a mighty force in the world." "But not anymore." "The Dragons are gone." "The Giants are dead." "And the Children of the Forest forgotten." "Loras!" "Highgarden!" "Get him!" "Oh!" "Yield!" "I yield." "Well fought." "Approach." "Rise." "Remove your helm." "My Lady. but never quite in that fashion." "my love." "My brother fought valiantly for you." "my Queen." "But there can only be one champion. you may ask anything of me you desire." "it is yours." "I ask the honor of a place in your Kingsguard." "What? and keep you safe from all harm." "Done." "Brienne of the Kingsguard." "Lord of Winterfell." "Lord of Winterfell and King in the North." "Lady Catelyn." "I'm pleased to see you." "May I present my wife Margaery of House Tyrell?" "Lady Stark." "I'm so sorry for your loss." "You are most kind." "I swear to you I will see the Lannisters answer for your husband's murder." "I'll bring you Joffrey's head." "My Lord." "Your Grace." "And you should kneel when you approach the King." "There's no need for that." "Lady Stark is an honored guest." "Has your son marched against Tywin Lannister yet?" "I do not sit on my son's war councils." "I would not share his strategies with you. not hide behind his mother's skirts. not playing at one." "My Lady." "Our war is just beginning." " Your Grace." " Gerard." "Your Grace." "They don't know their own size is all." "Good man." "000 men at my command." "All the might of the Stormlands and the Reach." "And all of them young and bold like your Knight of Flowers?" "isn't it?" " I pity them." " Why?" "Because it won't last." "Because they are the knights of summer and winter is coming." "escort Lady Catelyn to her tent." "Your Grace." " Shall I return after?" " That won't be necessary." "I would pray awhile." "Alone." "My Lady." "Lady Brienne." "I fought for my King." "Soon I'll fight for him on the battlefield." "Die for him if I must." "Brienne's enough." "I'm no lady." "What are you doing here?" "I live here." "brother?" " You lying bitch." "It's not my fault you didn't recognize me." "Recognize you?" "How could I?" "The last time I saw you..." "You looked like a fat little boy. but I recognized you." "Why didn't you tell me?" "I wanted to see who you were first." "And I did." "The plans are made." "It's time you heard them." " Father." " Father." "The wolf pup has gone south with the entirety of the northern army at his back. the north is ripe for the taking." "The Ironborn will reave and pillage as it was in the old days all along the northern coast. securing the Neck and everything above." "Every stronghold will yield to us one by one." "but what of it?" "The rest shall be ours - field and hall." "you'll take 30 longships to attack Deepwood Motte." "I've always wanted a castle." "And what's my role in all this?" "You'll take a ship to raid the fishing villages on the Stoney Shore." "A ship?" "You give her 30 and I get one?" "The Sea Bitch." "We thought she'd be perfect for you." "I'm to fight fishermen?" "Be careful of their nets." "I fought with Robb Stark." "I know his men." "He won't give up the North so easily." "They won't even know we're there until it's too late." "woman?" "I'm a proven warrior." "both of them dead at the hands of those you seem so eager to protect." "I'm not protecting anyone." "I just wonder if it's not wiser to wait." "Why risk going against the North if they would be our allies?" "Rise up against them and they could destroy us. they'll give us Casterly Rock." "What are our words?" "Our words?" " "We do not sow." - "We do not sow." "We are Ironborn." "We're not subjects." "We're not slaves." "We do not plow the fields or toil in the mine." "We take what is ours." "Your time with the wolves has made you weak." "You act as if I volunteered to go." "if you remember." "The day you bent the knee to Robert Baratheon." "After he crushed you." "Did you take what was yours then?" "You gave me away!" "Your boy!" "Your last boy!" "You gave me away like I was some dog you didn't want anymore." "And now you curse me because I've come home." "You'd have our father bow down to your other family?" "I have no other family." "Don't you?" "and do it quickly." "Our ships sail with or without you." "You won't let me leave this room." "keep your voice down." "Why?" "You think your father can hear me?" "He's 300 miles away!" "I don't intend for you to stay here." "I might be able to bring you into the castle kitchens." "only temporary." "Every man who has tasted my cooking has told me what a good whore I am." "But you wouldn't be a cook." "You'd pose as a scullion." "Scullion?" "What is a scullion?" "Kitchen wench." "but..." "Cleaning pots?" "Is that how my lion wants to see me?" "Your lion wants to see you alive." "We've come to a dangerous place." "My sister wants to hurt me." "She'll look for any weakness she can find." "She can't know about you." "I'm the weakness?" "My Lady." "How is being a weakness a compliment?" "Language can be a bit tricky here." "I'm too stupid to understand." "The stupid foreign girl." "I am not a kitchen wench." "When will Joffrey and Sansa be married?" "when the war is over." "Mother says I'll have a new gown for the ceremony and another for the feast." "But yours will be ivory since you're the bride." "The Princess just spoke to you." "Your Grace." "Myrcella." "I'm counting the days until the fighting is done and I can pledge my love to the King in sight of the Gods." "Is Joffrey going to kill Sansa's brother?" "He might." "Would you like that?" "No." "I don't think so." "Sansa will do her duty." "little dove?" "Come in." "Who are you?" "My Lady." "Your new handmaiden." "I didn't know I needed a new handmaiden." " You're not from here." " No." "What are you doing?" "Waiting for you to tell me what to do." "I shouldn't have to tell you to do things." "You should just do them." "What things? brush my hair." " No." " You said to brush..." "Not now." "Your chamber pot is empty." "Clean the table." "Have you ever been a handmaiden before?" " Yes." " For whom?" " Lady Zuriff." " Lady Zuriff?" "Lady Zuriff." "There is no Lady Zuriff in this city." "She wasn't in this city. not the other way around." "000 questions and teach you how to do your job." "Do you want me to leave?" "Just brush my hair." "thank the Gods." "I haven't had a proper shit in six days." "My Lord." "The stresses of power often have this insalubrious effect." "Two drops with water daily." "Right." "I'm so grateful to have a man of your vast knowledge and wisdom on my side." "My Lord." "can I not?" "My Lord." "These are perilous times." "And the crown must forge new alliances." "And these alliances must often be sealed in matrimony." "huh?" "Yes. but the queen mustn't know." "We can't have her meddling in affairs that could determine the future of the realm." "There's too much at stake." "yes." "I shall be silent as the grave." "I'm brokering an alliance with House Martell of Dorne." "Princess Myrcella will wed their youngest son ensuring their loyalty and their army should we need it." "Myrcella sent away to Dorne?" "the queen mustn't know." "The queen mustn't know." "I love conversations that begin this way." "I plan to marry Princess Myrcella off to Theon Greyjoy." "Theon Greyjoy?" "but how?" "He grew up a ward of Winterfell." "He fights for Robb Stark." "Precisely." "Theon's father loathes the Starks and will convince the boy to come to our side." "Greyjoy can destroy the northern army from within and we can have his father's ships." "you must tell no one." "Tell no one what?" "I plan to wed Princess Myrcella to Robin Arryn of the Vale." "Lysa is not fond of me." "But perhaps the promise of a royal match will convince her to let bygones be bygones." "She imprisoned you." "She tried to execute you." "And you offer her son a princess?" "holding grudges can be don't you think?" "And I suppose you want me to broker this agreement?" "Who better? if I cared to." "What's in it for me?" "The gratitude of the people of Westeros the adoration of the King for bringing the Vale back into the fold... and Harrenhal." "Harrenhal is cursed." "Never took you for a superstitious man." "tear it down and rebuild." "You'll be able to afford it." "I plan to make you Lord of the Riverlands." "you'd make me one of the greatest lords in the realm." "You served my family well in the matter of the succession." "too." "Until you snatched it away." "I need you to deliver Lysa Arryn." "I didn't need Janos Slynt." "then?" "Good." "and remember... the queen mustn't know." "That must hurt." "What?" "What is it?" "A member of the Kingsguard?" "As if I wasn't humiliated enough already." "Brienne is a very capable warrior." "And she's devoted to me." "You're jealous." "Jealous?" "Of Brienne the Beauty?" "Don't make me laugh." "Your Grace." "Not tonight." "There's another Tyrell who requires your attention." "You didn't win my father's support or his army on charm alone." "Your vassals are starting to snigger behind your back." "Brides aren't usually virgins two weeks after their wedding night." "And Margaery's a virgin?" "Officially." "Shall I bring her to you? I've had quite a bit of wine." "As is your right." "You are a King." "You look very beautiful." "Your Grace." " It's a lovely gown." " You think so?" "I can't decide how I like it better." "This way... or this way." "You certainly don't need it." "Although... some say that beauty most desired is the beauty concealed." "Must be the wine." "let me." "I'm sorry." "Do you want my brother to come in and help?" " What?" " He could get you started." "I know he wouldn't mind." "Or I can turn over and you can pretend I'm him." "I don't know what you're talking about." "There's no need for us to play games." "Save your lies for court." "You're going to need a lot of them." "Your enemies aren't happy about us." "They want to tear us apart." "And the best way to stop them is to put your baby in my belly." "We can try again later." "You decide how you want to do it - with me and Loras." "However else you like." "Whatever you need to do." "You are a King." "You monster." "Myrcella is my only daughter." "Do you really think I'll let you sell her like a common whore?" "Myrcella's a Princess." "Some would say she was born for this." "I will not let you ship her off to Dorne as I was shipped off to Robert Baratheon." "Dorne is the safest place for her." "Are you mad?" "The Martells loathe us." "That's why we need to seduce them." "We're going to need their support in the war your son started." " She'll be a hostage." " A guest." "You won't get away with this." "You think the piece of paper father gave you keeps you safe." "too." "Cersei." " No." " You cannot stop it." " No!" "Just how safe do you think Myrcella is if this city falls?" "butchered like the Targaryen children?" "Make no mistake." "They'll mount her pretty little head on a spike right beside yours." "Get out!" "Get out! you would this day consecrate your faith to the Drowned God?" " I would." " Kneel. be born again from the sea as you were." "Bless him with salt." "Bless him with stone." "Bless him with steel." "What is dead may never die." "But rises again harder and stronger." "Stand." "dwarf. can she?" "afraid not." "Sorry about that." "And Harrenhal " "I suppose that's off the table as well." "too." "Leave me out of your next deception." "that's a shame." "You were to be the centerpiece of my next deception." "My brother Jaime rots in a Northern stockade." "I would see him released." "That's where you come in." "Robb Stark will never release the Kingslayer." "he won't." "But his mother might." "How would you like to see your beloved Cat again?" "aye." "And he has company." "Filthy old stoat." "Almost hate to interrupt." "I don't." "What is the meaning of this?" "please." "Grand Maester." "I am your loyal servant." "So loyal that you told the Queen about my plans to send Myrcella to Dorne." "No!" "Never!" "It's a falsehood." "I swear it." "It wasn't me." "Varys." "It was Varys the spider." "I told Varys that I was giving the Princess to the Greyjoys." "I told Littlefinger that I planned to wed her to Robin Arryn." "I told no one that I was offering her to the Dornish." "No one but you." "The eunuch has spies everywhere." "Cut off his manhood and feed it to the goats." "halfman." "make do." "How long have you been spying for my sister?" "I did for House Lannister." "ask him." "I've always been his servant since the days of the Mad King." " I don't like his beard." " What?" "no." "No." "Pycelle?" "Eddard Stark?" "Jon Arryn?" "he knew." "He knew the truth about the queen. to tell King Robert." "So you poisoned him?" "No." "Never." "made sure he succumbed." "Lannister - I always served Lannister." "Get him out of my sight." "Throw him in one of the black cells." "please." "Don't!" "You can't do this to me!" "For your trouble." "You'll be pleased to know our mutual friend is doing quite well in Lady Sansa's service." "Good." "One of my better ideas." "And it seems the Grand Maester has found his way into a black cell." "My Lord Hand." "But should I be worried?" "Pycelle - the small council grows smaller every day." "The council has a reputation for serving past Hands poorly." "I don't mean to follow Ned Stark to the grave." "My Lord." "Are you fond of riddles?" "am I about to hear one?" "Three great men sit in a room." "a priest and a rich man." "Between them stands a common sellsword." "Each great man bids the sellsword kill the other two." "who dies?" "Depends on the sellsword." "Does it?" "He has neither crown nor gold nor favor with the Gods." "the power of life and death. why do we pretend kings hold all the power?" "who was truly responsible?" "Joffrey?" "The executioner?" "Or something else?" "I've decided I don't like riddles." "Power resides where men believe it resides. a shadow on the wall." "And a very small man can cast a very large shadow." "You should be sleeping." "Tomorrow's a long march." "30 miles if it don't piss on us." "I can't sleep." "I don't like the taste." "Well... to be honest." "What?" "How do you sleep?" "I think. horrible things." "Aye. but not nearly so many." "How do you sleep when you... when you have those things in your head?" "You didn't see that." "I made damn sure." "I close my eyes and I see them up there." "All of them standing there - and... and my sister." "me and you." "You know that?" "I must have been a couple of years older than you." "I saw my brother stabbed through the heart right on our doorstep." "He weren't much of a villain what skewered him." "the lad's name was." "He ran off before anyone could spit. watching my brother die." "But here's the funny part." "I can't picture my brother's face anymore." "But Willem... he was a nice-looking boy. one of those dimpled chins all the girls like." "when I was having a shit." "It got to the point where I would say his name every night before I went to bed." "Willem." "Willem." "Willem." "A prayer almost." "one day..." "Willem came riding back into town. they had to bury him with it." "Willem's horse got me to the Wall and I've been wearing black ever since." "Well... eh?" "Ho!" "you lazy sons of whores!" "Arm yourselves." " Get up." " Get up." "both of you." "I'm not afraid." " I can fight." "Keep out of sight." "you run." "Do you hear me?" "You run along North and don't look back." "there's men out there who want to fuck your corpses." "now!" "move!" "Gold Cloaks!" "Everyone out!" "you!" "Open the damn cage!" "Crow?" "Got more than a few bastards here." "Who's asking?" "sworn bannerman to Lord Tywin Lannister." "These men from the capital requested our assistance." "Drop your weapons in the name of the King." "which King would that be?" "This is your last chance. drop your weapons." "I don't think I will." "So be it." "I always hated crossbows." "Take too long to load." "come here." "Boy!" "help us." " Come back here!" "boy!" "A man can fight!" "Free us!" "give it to me." "Give me the ax." "Give me that." "Put 'em on the wagon!" "There's more here." "Come on." "What do we have here?" "No!" "That's a fine little blade." "Maybe I'll pick my teeth with it." "I yield!" "I yield!" "Round up any survivors." "We'll take them back to Harrenhal." "You heard him." "You're coming with us." "I yield!" "Help!" "Help me!" "boy?" "Look at it." "Can you walk?" "No." "You got to carry me." "All right." "he says." "We're looking for a bastard named Gendry." "Give him up or I'll start taking eyeballs." "You want Gendry?" "You already got him." "He loved that helmet."