Ⅳ 群鸦的盛宴 Chapter27 詹姆
JAIME
“我还以为你会剪了这讨厌的胡子，知道吗？你看起来就像劳勃。”姐姐已换掉丧服，穿上一身浅绿裙装，袖子是银色的密尔蕾丝，脖子上的金项链镶有一颗鸽子蛋大小的祖母绿。
I had hoped that by now you would have grown tired of that wretched beard. All that hair makes you look like Robert.” His sister had put aside her mourning for a jade-green gown with sleeves of silver Myrish lace. An emerald the size of a pigeon’s egg hung on a golden chain about her neck.
“劳勃的胡子是黑的，我的是金色。”
“Robert’s beard was black. Mine is gold.”
“金色？白的吧？”瑟曦从他下巴上扯了一根毛，举到面前。实际上，是灰的。“弟弟，你正在褪色，你成了过去那个你的幽灵，成了个苍白的残废，和这身白盔白甲倒是配套。”她抛开那根胡须，”我喜欢穿着绯红和金色服装的你。”
“Gold? Or silver?” Cersei plucked a hair from beneath his chin and held it up. It was grey. “All the color is draining out of you, brother. You’ve become a ghost of what you were, a pale crippled thing. And so bloodless, always in white.” She flicked the hair away. “I prefer you garbed in crimson and gold.”
我喜欢沐浴在阳光之下，任露水滋润肌肤的你。他想吻她，想把她抱回卧室，扔到床上……她和蓝赛尔、奥斯蒙·凯特布莱克，甚至月童上床……“我要和你谈谈。收回成命，我的剃刀便任你驱使。”
I prefer you dappled in sunlight, with water beading on your naked skin. He wanted to kiss her, carry her to her bedchamber, throw her on the bed. … she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy … “I will make a bargain with you. Relieve me of this duty, and my razor is yours to command.”
瑟曦嘴巴一抿，她喝了香料热酒，口中散发出豆蔻的味道。“你是来讨价还价的？需要我提醒吗，你发誓服从命令。”
Her mouth tightened. She had been drinking hot spiced wine and smelled of nutmeg. “You presume to dicker with me? Need I remind you, you are sworn to obey.”
“我发誓保护国王。我应该留在他身边。”
“I am sworn to protect the king. My place is at his side.”
“你应该服从他调遣。”
“Your place is wherever he sends you.”
“托曼不过是在你递去的每一张纸上面盖章罢了。这是你的意思，而且愚蠢透顶。不信任达冯，又为何要任命他为西境守护？”
“Tommen puts his seal on every paper that you put in front of him. This is your doing, and it’s folly. Why name Daven your Warden of the West if you have no faith in him?”
她在窗边座椅坐下，窗外是首相塔焦黑的废墟。“你为何推诿，爵士？难道你的勇气也随着右手消失了吗？”
Cersei took a seat beneath the window. Behind her Jaime could see the blackened ruin of the Tower of the Hand. “Why so reluctant, ser? Did you lose your courage with your hand?”
“我对史塔克夫人发过誓，不会再拿起武器反对史塔克家族或徒利家族。”
“I swore an oath to Lady Stark, never again to take up arms against the Starks or Tullys.”
“那不过是喝醉了酒，并被利剑抵着喉咙发的誓。”
“A drunken promise made with a sword at your throat.”
“如果我不在托曼身边，又如何能护得他周全？”
“How can I defend Tommen if I am not with him?”
“打败他的敌人，就是保护他的最好方式。父亲不是常说，‘最好的盾牌是挥舞的宝剑吗’？——哦，对了，宝剑是要手来挥舞的。不管怎么说吧，相信残废的狮子余威仍存，我要奔流城，我也要布林登·徒利——无论死活。此外，赫伦堡作为中枢要道，需要得到整治，威里斯·曼德勒没死的话一定被关在那里，他是安抚北方人的关键之一，而我们向守军派出的乌鸦均未得到回应。”
“By defeating his enemies. Father always said that a swift sword stroke is a better defense than any shield. Admittedly, most sword strokes require a hand. Still, even a crippled lion may inspire fear. I want Riverrun. I want Brynden Tully chained or dead. And someone needs to set Harrenhal to rights. We have urgent need of Wylis Manderly, assuming he is still alive and captive, but the garrison has not replied to any of our ravens.”
“他们是格雷果的人，”詹姆提醒姐姐，“魔山的手下残酷而又愚蠢。他们多半把你的乌鸦全吃光喽。”
“Those are Gregor’s men at Harrenhal,” Jaime reminded her. “The Mountain liked them cruel and stupid. Most like they ate your ravens, messages and all.”
“所以才派你去，我勇敢的弟弟，他们很可能也会拿你当晚餐，但我相信你会叫他们消化不良的，”瑟曦理理裙子。“你出征期间，将由奥斯蒙爵士暂代御林铁卫队长一职。”
“That’s why I’m sending you. They may eat you as well, brave brother, but I trust you’ll give them indigestion.” Cersei smoothed her skirt. “I want Ser Osmund to command the Kingsguard in your absence.”
……她和蓝赛尔、奥斯蒙·凯特布莱克，甚至月童上床……“这个不能由你说了算。若你实在要我走，我将指派洛拉斯爵士为代理人。”
… she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know … “That’s not your choice. If I must go, Ser Loras will command here in my stead.”
“开什么玩笑？你明知道我如何看待洛拉斯爵士。”
“Is that a jape? You know how I feel about Ser Loras.”
“如果你没派巴隆·史文前往多恩——”
“If you had not sent Balon Swann to Dorne—”
“我需要他前去，多恩人不能信任。你忘了吗，红毒蛇做过提利昂的代理骑士？我可不放心把女儿就这样扔在阳戟城。还有，我重申，决不允许洛拉斯·提利尔掌管御林铁卫。”
“I need him there. These Dornishmen cannot be trusted. That red snake championed Tyrion, have you forgotten that? I will not leave my daughter to their mercy. And I will not have Loras Tyrell commanding the Kingsguard.”
“洛拉斯爵士比奥斯蒙爵士男人多了。”
“Ser Loras is thrice the man Ser Osmund is.”
“噢，看来你对男人的观念也变了，弟弟。”
“Your notions of manhood have changed somewhat, brother.”
詹姆感觉怒气逐渐升起，“没错，洛拉斯不会像奥斯蒙爵士那么色迷迷地盯着你的胸口，但我不认为——”
Jaime felt his anger rising. “True, Loras does not leer at your teats the way Ser Osmund does, but I hardly think—”
“你这是什么话！？”瑟曦给了他一耳光。
“Think about this.” Cersei slapped his face.
詹姆毫不躲闪，“看来我的胡子还得多蓄一些，才能承受太后陛下的抚慰。”他好想撕开她的裙服，与她疯狂接吻……若是在以前，有两只手的时候，或许他已经这么做了。
Jaime made no attempt to block the blow. “I see I need a thicker beard, to cushion me against my queen’s caresses.” He wanted to rip her gown off and turn her blows to kisses. He’d done it before, back when he had two good hands.
太后的双眼犹如幽绿的玄冰，“你最好赶紧上路，爵士。”
The queen’s eyes were green ice. “You had best go, ser.”
……蓝赛尔、奥斯蒙·凯特布莱克、月童……
… Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack, and Moon Boy …
“你手没了还是耳朵没了？！房门就在后面，爵士。”
“Are you deaf as well as maimed? You’ll find the door behind you, ser.”
“如你所愿。”詹姆转身而去，离开了瑟曦。
“As you command.” Jaime turned on his heel and left her.
诸神啊，他们一定在窃笑。他知道瑟曦不喜被人顶撞，温柔的话语或能将她动摇，不过最近只要看见她，他就一肚子火，好话全说不出口。
Somewhere the gods were laughing. Cersei had never taken kindly to being balked, he knew that. Softer words might have swayed her, yet of late the very sight of her made him angry.
其实，他心中的一部分倒希望能离开君临。对于瑟曦身边那帮白痴和马屁精，詹姆实在受够了。据亚当·马尔布兰报告，跳蚤窝的贫民把当今御前会议称为“小人会议”。他尤其不放心科本……此人虽说救过詹姆一命，但毕竟曾是血戏班的成员。“科本有许多秘密，谁都能闻出来。”他警告瑟曦，姐姐却只笑笑，“弟弟多心了，我们彼此都有许多秘密。”
Part of him would be glad to put King’s Landing behind him. He had no taste for the company of the lickspittles and fools who surrounded Cersei. “The smallest council,” they were calling them in Flea Bottom, according to Addam Marbrand. And Qyburn … he might have saved Jaime’s life, but he was still a Bloody Mummer. “Qyburn stinks of secrets,” he warned Cersei. That only made her laugh. “We all have secrets, brother,” she replied.
……她和蓝赛尔、奥斯蒙·凯特布莱克，甚至月童上床……
… she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know …
四十名骑士和他们的侍从等在红堡的马厩外，其中一半是兰尼斯特家族直属的西境骑士，另一半则是新近投靠、不被信任的降将。为安抚军心，詹姆让雨林的德莫特爵士负责托曼的王旗，让红罗兰·克林顿负责御林铁卫队长的纯白旗帜，并收下一位培吉、一位派柏和一位派克顿担任自己的侍从。“把朋友留在身后，敌人留在身前，方能万无一失。”这是萨姆纳·克雷赫的劝诫，还是父亲的教诲？
Forty knights and as many esquires awaited him outside the Red Keep’s stables. Half were westermen sworn to House Lannister, the others recent foes turned doubtful friends. Ser Dermot of the Rainwood would carry Tommen’s standard, Red Ronnet Connington the white banner of the Kingsguard. A Paege, a Piper, and a Peckledon would share the honor of squiring for the Lord Commander. “Keep friends at your back and foes where you can see them,” Sumner Crakehall had once counseled him. Or had that been Father?
他的坐骑是匹血色母马，战马则是高大的灰公马。詹姆已有多年不曾为马取名字，他见过太多坐骑来来去去，想起来甚为痛心。不过，当派柏家的小子把这两匹马分别命名为“荣誉”与“光辉”时，他哈哈大笑，听之任之。光辉披上兰尼斯特的绯红鞍配，荣誉则罩上御林铁卫的纯白衣裳。乔斯敏·派克顿牵住缰绳，让詹姆爵士上马——这名侍从瘦得像根矛，手长脚长，油腻的鼠灰色头发，柔软的面颊上刚长出桃子似的绒毛。他身披兰尼斯特的绯红披风，但外套上有自己家族黄色底面上十只紫色胭脂鱼的纹章。“大人，”这小子询问，“您要戴上新手吗？”
His palfrey was a blood bay, his destrier a magnificent grey stallion. It had been long years since Jaime had named any of his horses; he had seen too many die in battle, and that was harder when you named them. But when the Piper boy started calling them Honor and Glory, he laughed and let the names stand. Glory wore trappings of Lannister crimson; Honor was barded in Kingsguard white. Josmyn Peckledon held the palfrey’s reins as Ser Jaime mounted. The squire was skinny as a spear, with long arms and legs, greasy mouse-brown hair, and cheeks soft with peach fuzz. His cloak was Lannister crimson, but his surcoat showed the ten purple mullets of his own House arrayed upon a yellow field. “My lord,” the lad asked, “will you be wanting your new hand?”
“戴上它，詹姆，”凯切镇的肯洛斯爵士劝道，“戴上它朝百姓挥手致意，往后他们会给儿孙传诵您的故事。”
“Wear it, Jaime,” urged Ser Kennos of Kayce. “Wave at the smallfolk and give them a tale to tell their children.”
“算了，”詹姆不愿向群众撒谎——哪怕是个金光灿灿的慌。让他们看到断肢，让他们看到残废。“我准许你表演，肯洛斯爵士，就当为了我吧，双手双脚地挥舞都可以。”说罢，他用左手抓起缰绳，催马前进。“派恩，”当大家集合完毕后，詹姆下令，“你骑在我旁边。”
“I think not.” Jaime would not show the crowds a golden lie. Let them see the stump. Let them see the cripple. “But feel free to make up for my lack, Ser Kennos. Wave with both hands, and waggle your feet if it please you.” He gathered the reins in his left hand and wheeled his horse around. “Payne,” he called as the rest were forming up, “you’ll ride beside me.”
伊林·派恩爵士遵令上前。他看起来像个要饭的，一身老旧生锈的锁甲，套在褪色的煮沸皮革背心上，人和马都没有纹章，盾牌画得一塌糊涂，连颜色都看不清楚，再搭配憔悴的神情与深陷的眼窝，伊林爵士浑如死人……当然，从某种意义上说，他已经死了许多年。
Ser Ilyn Payne made his way to Jaime’s side, looking like the beggar at the ball. His ringmail was old and rusted, worn over a stained jack of boiled leather. Neither the man nor his mount showed any heraldry; his shield was so hacked and battered it was hard to say what color paint might once have covered it. With his grim face and deep-sunk hollow eyes, Ser Ilyn might have passed for death himself … as he had, for years.
我会让他振作起来。谁叫詹姆要当这光辉灿烂的铁卫小队长呢？他不得不接受国王的调令，然而伊林爵士是他的条件之一，另一个条件是亚当·马尔布兰。“我要他们两个。”他告诉姐姐，瑟曦当即批准。她巴不得赶走他们呢。亚当爵士乃是詹姆的童年好友，沉默的刽子手则属于他父亲——如果他还属于任何人的话。派恩做过御前首相的侍卫队长，没料到祸从口出，有人密告说他私下赞叹泰温公爵才是真正的七国统治者，伊里斯王便拔了他舌头。
No longer, though. Ser Ilyn had been half of Jaime’s price, for swallowing his boy king’s command like a good little Lord Commander. The other half had been Ser Addam Marbrand. “I need them,” he had told his sister, and Cersei had not put up a fight. Most like she’s pleased to rid herself of them. Ser Addam was a boyhood friend of Jaime’s, and the silent headsman had belonged to their father, if he belonged to anyone. Payne had been the captain of the Hand’s guard when he had been heard boasting that it was Lord Tywin who ruled the Seven Kingdoms and told King Aerys what to do. Aerys Targaryen took his tongue for that.
“开门。”詹姆喊道，壮猪用雄浑的嗓音重复，“开门！”
“Open the gates,” said Jaime, and Strongboar, in his booming voice, called out, “OPEN THE GATES!”
当初梅斯·提利尔敲锣打鼓地骑出烂泥门时，数千民众列队欢呼。男孩们个个兴高采烈地走在队伍旁边，高昂着头，模仿提利尔大兵迈大步的样子，他们的姐妹则打开窗户，抛出飞吻。
When Mace Tyrell had marched out through the Mud Gate to the sound of drums and fiddles, thousands lined the streets to cheer him off. Little boys had joined the march, striding along beside the Tyrell soldiers with heads held high and legs pumping, whilst their sisters threw down kisses from the windows.
今日截然不同。兰尼斯特的队伍经过时，几名妓女懒懒地招呼，卖肉派的继续高声叫卖。鞋匠广场上，两名衣衫褴褛的麻雀自顾自地朝数百百姓宣讲，警告说不敬神的人与恶魔崇拜者将引来末日之灾。人群为队伍让路，麻雀与鞋匠们全是呆滞的眼神。“他们喜欢玫瑰的香味，对狮子却毫无感觉，”詹姆评论，“我亲爱的老姐应该好好想想。”伊林爵士没有回答。他真是个旅行的好伙伴，我喜欢跟他谈话。
Not so today. A few whores called out invitations as they passed, and a meat pie man cried his wares. In Cobbler’s Square two threadbare sparrows were haranguing several hundred smallfolk, crying doom upon the heads of godless men and demon worshipers. The crowd parted for the column. Sparrows and cobblers alike looked on with dull eyes. “They like the smell of roses but have no love for lions,” Jaime observed. “My sister would be wise to take note of that.” Ser Ilyn made no reply. The perfect companion for a long ride. I will enjoy his conversation.
大队人马在城外等候，包括亚当·马尔布兰爵士与他的斥候，史提夫伦·史威佛爵士的辎重队，“好人”老博尼佛爵士的百名“圣战士”，萨斯菲尔德的弓骑兵，古利安学士与他的四笼乌鸦和佛列蒙·布拉克斯爵士的两百重骑兵。詹姆麾下这支军队总数不满一千，难称庞大，但奔流城下不缺兵。那座城堡已被兰尼斯特军团团包围，而佛雷家出动的人马甚至比西境更多，不过他们发来的上一只乌鸦带信称，全军供应已难以为继。布林登·徒利是坚壁清野后方才退回城堡的。
The greater part of his command awaited him beyond the city walls; Ser Addam Marbrand with his outriders, Ser Steffon Swyft and the baggage train, the Holy Hundred of old Ser Bonifer the Good, Sarsfield’s mounted archers, Maester Gulian with four cages full of ravens, two hundred heavy horse under Ser Flement Brax. Not a great host, all in all; fewer than a thousand men in total. Numbers were the last thing needed at Riverrun. A Lannister army already invested the castle, and an even larger force of Freys; the last bird they’d received suggested that the besiegers were having difficulty keeping themselves fed. Brynden Tully had scoured the land clean before retiring behind his walls.
其实也没什么好清的。就詹姆亲眼所见，河间地几乎找不到一块未被焚烧的田野、一座未遇洗劫的城镇、一个未遭强暴的少女。现在我亲爱的老姐要我去完成亚摩利·洛奇和格雷果·克里冈的未竞事业。他嘴里阵阵苦味。
Not that it required much scouring. From what Jaime had seen of the riverlands, scarce a field remained unburnt, a town unsacked, a maiden undespoiled. And now my sweet sister sends me to finish the work that Amory Lorch and Gregor Clegane began. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
尽管君临附近的国王大道跟承平时期一样安全，詹姆仍令马尔布兰率斥候出动。“罗柏·史塔克在呓语森林攻我不备，”他告诉前都城守备队长，“这事再也不会发生了。”
This near to King’s Landing, the kingsroad was as safe as any road could be in such times, yet Jaime sent Marbrand and his outriders ahead to scout. “Robb Stark took me unawares in the Whispering Wood,” he said. “That will never happen again.”
“我以性命向您担保，”能重上战马，马尔布兰似乎颇感欣慰，他忙不迭地脱掉都城守备队的金羊毛披风，换上自家的烟灰色披风，“十里格之内，敌人休想靠近。”
“You have my word on it.” Marbrand seemed visibly relieved to be ahorse again, wearing the smoke-grey cloak of his own House instead of the gold wool of the City Watch. “If any foe should come within a dozen leagues, you will know of them beforehand.”
詹姆颁布严令，未经他允许，任何人不得离队。不有言在先的话，这帮贵族少爷们就会到处奔跑赛马，驱散家畜，践踏农田了。都城近郊难得还有牛羊漫游，树上有苹果与草莓，农舍旁堆满大麦、燕麦和冬小麦，道路两边是牛车马车。走得远点，这番景象哪里去找？詹姆与沉默的伊林爵士并骑在前头，感觉十分惬意。温暖的阳光洒在背上，朔风拂过头发，犹如瑟曦的指尖。小子卢·派柏采来一头盔黑莓，詹姆抓了一把，然后吩咐他分给侍从们和伊林·派恩爵士。
Jaime had given stern commands that no man was to depart the column without his leave. Elsewise, he knew he would have bored young lordlings racing through the fields, scattering livestock and trampling down the crops. There were still cows and sheep to be seen near the city; apples on the trees and berries in the brush, stands of barleycorn and oats and winter wheat, wayns and oxcarts on the road. Farther afield, things would not be so rosy.
派恩似乎很满意那身生锈锁甲和皮革背心，也很满意自己的沉默——从他那边，只传来马蹄声和剑鞘与剑刃拍击的声音。虽然他满脸麻子，眼神冰冷得像冬日的湖泊，毫无表情可言，但詹姆本能地感受到对方对于离开君临的欢喜。我让他自己选，他思量着，他本可以拒绝我，继续做他的御前执法官。
Riding at the front of the host with Ser Ilyn silent by his side, Jaime felt almost content. The sun was warm on his back and the wind riffled through his hair like a woman’s fingers. When Little Lew Piper came galloping up with a helm full of blackberries, Jaime ate a handful and told the boy to share the rest with his fellow squires and Ser Ilyn Payne.
伊林的职位是劳勃·拜拉席恩新婚时送给詹姆的父亲的回礼之一，随后这个闲职被泰温公爵用来偿还派恩为兰尼斯特家族做出的牺牲。伊林·派恩爵士成了一位完美的刽子手，干净利索，一击收工，从未让处决陷入难堪境地。他的沉默更为他增添了气势，王国难得一位如此匹配的执法官。
Payne seemed as comfortable in his silence as in his rusted ringmail and boiled leather. The clop of his gelding’s hooves and the rattle of sword in scabbard whenever he shifted his seat were the only sounds he made. Though his pox-scarred face was grim and his eyes as cold as ice on a winter lake, Jaime sensed that he was glad he’d come. I gave the man a choice, he reminded himself. He could have refused me and remained King’s Justice.
当初詹姆下定决心后，便去叛徒走道尽头找伊林爵士。那里有座半圆形矮塔，上层分成若干房间，专司软禁贵族，比如可用来讨取赎金或安排交换的骑士与领主之流；地下经由一扇精铁门和一扇灰木门通往地牢。地下第一层设有监狱总管、大告解官和御前执法官的房间。御前执法官的本职是刑场杀人，但按惯例，还要打理地牢事务。
Ser Ilyn’s appointment had been a wedding gift from Robert Baratheon to the father of his bride, a sinecure to compensate Payne for the tongue he’d lost in the service of House Lannister. He made a splendid headsman. He had never botched an execution, and seldom required as much as a second stroke. And there was something about his silence that inspired terror. Seldom had a King’s Justice seemed so well fitted for his office.
对于这项任务，没有比伊林·派恩爵士更不合适的人选了。他既不识字，又不能写，甚至连说话都不会，只好统统扔给别人处理。可惜的是，他也没有同僚，因为王国自戴伦二世的朝代以来便没再任命过大告解官，而上任监狱总管乃是个从小指头那里买肥缺的布商人。毫无疑问，他最近几年发了笔横财，然而去年很不幸地和其他有钱的傻瓜一起倒向史坦尼斯。他们自称“鹿角民”，小乔便将鹿角钉在他们头上，再用投石机抛出城去还给史坦尼斯。这回詹姆找来时，只能再求助于驼背的雷纳佛·伟维水，让这自称有龙之血脉的老头指引他走下狭窄的阶梯，来到伊林·派恩生活了十五年的地方。
When Jaime decided to take him, he had sought out Ser Ilyn’s chambers at the end of Traitor’s Walk. The upper floor of the squat, half-round tower was divided into cells for prisoners who required some measure of comfort, captive knights or lordlings awaiting ransom or exchange. The entrance to the dungeons proper was at ground level, behind a door of hammered iron and a second of splintery grey wood. On the floors between were rooms set aside for the use of the Chief Gaoler, the Lord Confessor, and the King’s Justice. The Justice was a headsman, but by tradition he also had charge of the dungeons and the men who kept them.
房间充溢着食物腐烂的臭气，草席上爬虫随处可见，詹姆还差点踩上一只老鼠。派恩的双手巨剑放在搁板桌上，旁边有一块磨刀石和一张油腻腻的布，剑刃被打磨得极为锋利，在苍白的光线下闪烁着蓝盈盈的光。但除此之外，脏衣服堆得满地都是，布满红锈的锁甲与板甲也被拆散开来，四处乱扔，至于打破的酒瓶子，更是无法计算。这个男人除了行刑，没有其他生活了。当伊林爵士从屎臭熏天的卧室里出来会他时，詹姆心想。
And for that task, Ser Ilyn Payne was singularly ill suited. As he could neither read, nor write, nor speak, Ser Ilyn had left the running of the dungeons to his underlings, such as they were. The realm had not had a Lord Confessor since the second Daeron, however, and the last Chief Gaoler had been a cloth merchant who purchased the office from Littlefinger during Robert’s reign. No doubt he’d had good profit from it for a few years, until he made the error of conspiring with some other rich fools to give the Iron Throne to Stannis. They called themselves “Antler Men,” so Joff had nailed antlers to their heads before flinging them over the city walls. So it had been left to Rennifer Longwaters, the head undergaoler with the twisted back who claimed at tedious length to have a “drop of dragon” in him, to unlock the dungeon doors for Jaime and conduct him up the narrow steps inside the walls to the place where Ilyn Payne had lived for fifteen years.
“太后陛下命我节制大军，收复河间地，”他告诉对方，“你可以跟我走……假如你舍得放弃这所豪宅的话。”
The chambers stank of rotted food, and the rushes were crawling with vermin. As Jaime entered, he almost trod upon a rat. Payne’s greatsword rested on a trestle table, beside a whetstone and a greasy oilcloth. The steel was immaculate, the edge glimmering blue in the pale light, but elsewhere piles of soiled clothing were strewn about the floors, and the bits of mail and armor scattered here and there were red with rust. Jaime could not count the broken wine jars. The man cares for naught but killing, he thought, as Ser Ilyn emerged from a bedchamber that reeked of overflowing chamber pots. “His Grace bids me win back his riverlands,” Jaime told him. “I would have you with me … if you can bear to give up all of this.”
沉默是派恩的回答，还有毫不动摇的悠长凝视。正当詹姆准备离开时，对方点了点头。他终究是肯改变了，詹姆瞥瞥身边的伙伴，或许我们两个还有希望。
Silence was his answer, and a long, unblinking stare. But just as he was about to turn and take his leave, Payne had given him a nod. And here he rides. Jaime glanced at his companion. Perhaps there is yet hope for the both of us.
当晚，队伍在哈佛城所在的小丘下宿营，夕阳沉没后，一百个帐篷沿小溪搭建起来。詹姆亲自安排哨兵放哨，都城附近想来不会有什么麻烦，但当初他舅舅史戴佛在牛津肯定也是这么想。我决不会重蹈覆辙。
That night they made camp beneath the hilltop castle of the Hayfords. As the sun went down, a hundred tents sprouted beneath the hill, along the banks of the stream that ran beside it. Jaime set the sentries himself. He did not expect trouble this close to the city, but his uncle Stafford had once thought himself safe on the Oxcross too. It was best to take no chances.
从城堡里传来哈佛夫人的代理城主的邀请，詹姆带上伊林爵士、亚当·马尔布兰爵士、博尼佛·哈斯提爵士、红罗兰·克林顿、壮猪与其他十几位骑士及贵族同去。“我想我应该戴上那只手。”上山之前，他对小派说。
When the invitation came down from the castle for him to sup with Lady Hayford’s castellan, Jaime took Ser Ilyn with him, along with Ser Addam Marbrand, Ser Bonifer Hasty, Red Ronnet Connington, Strongboar, and a dozen other knights and lordlings. “I suppose I ought to wear the hand,” he said to Peck before making his ascent.
这孩子立刻为他绑上。那只手由纯金制成，指甲是祖母绿，肉眼看去十分逼真。它指头半拢，刚好能握住杯子。我不能用它打仗，却能用它喝酒，詹姆看着男孩在他的断肢上绑绷带，心里想。“从今天起，人们会称呼您为金手将军。”武器师傅曾向詹姆保证。错，直到我死后，人们还是会叫我弑君者。
The lad fetched it straightaway. The hand was wrought of gold, very lifelike, with inlaid nails of mother-of-pearl, its fingers and thumb half closed so as to slip around a goblet’s stem. I cannot fight, but I can drink, Jaime reflected as the lad was tightening the straps that bound it to his stump. “Men shall name you Goldenhand from this day forth, my lord,” the armorer had assured him the first time he’d fitted it onto Jaime’s wrist. He was wrong. I shall be the Kingslayer till I die.
金手在餐桌上屡屡为他带来赞叹——直到打翻酒杯。他的脾气发作了。“妈的，如果你如此羡慕这该死的玩意儿，我很乐意把你用剑的手砍掉。”他告诉佛列蒙·布拉克斯。无人再敢多言，他在平静中多喝了点酒。
The golden hand was the occasion for much admiring comment over supper, at least until Jaime knocked over a goblet of wine. Then his temper got the best of him. “If you admire the bloody thing so much, lop off your own sword hand and you can have it,” he told Flement Brax. After that there was no more talk about his hand, and he managed to drink some wine in peace.
城堡主人跟兰尼斯特家族结亲，才一岁便做了他表弟提瑞克的夫人，此刻也还是个圆胖的小婴儿。席间，这位艾弥珊德夫人被抱出来相见，她穿金线小裙服，裙服中间用翡翠颗粒组成一条淡绿色大波浪，周围是绿色栅格——这是哈佛家族的纹章。过不多久，小女孩号啕大哭，便被奶妈安抚着送回卧房了。
The lady of the castle was a Lannister by marriage, a plump toddler who had been wed to his cousin Tyrek before she was a year old. Lady Ermesande was duly trotted out for their approval, all trussed up in a little gown of cloth-of-gold, with the green fretty and green pale wavy of House Hayford rendered in tiny beads of jade. But soon enough the girl began to squall, whereupon she was promptly whisked off to bed by her wet nurse.
“还没有提瑞克大人的消息？”鲑鱼端上桌时，代理城主询问。
“Has there been no word of our Lord Tyrek?” her castellan asked as a course of trout was served.
“没有。”提瑞克·兰尼斯特在君临暴动中失踪时，詹姆还在奔流城作俘虏。若这孩子没死，应满十四岁了。
“None.” Tyrek Lannister had vanished during the riots in King’s Landing whilst Jaime himself was still captive at Riverrun. The boy would be fourteen by now, assuming he was still alive.
“遵照泰温大人的命令，我曾亲自带队搜查，”亚当·马尔布兰爵士边剔鱼骨头边说，“但我的发现不比拜瓦特多。暴民们突破金袍子的封锁线时，那孩子还在马上，其后嘛……嗯，我们找到了他的马，人却没有半点线索，多半是被拉下来杀了。但若是这样，尸体在哪儿？暴民让其他人暴尸街巷，为何单单没有他？”
“I led a search myself, at Lord Tywin’s command,” offered Addam Marbrand as he boned his fish, “but I found no more than Bywater had before me. The boy was last seen ahorse, when the press of the mob broke the line of gold cloaks. Afterward … well, his palfrey was found, but not the rider. Most like they pulled him down and slew him. But if that’s so, where is his body? The mob let the other corpses lie, why not his?”
“或许令他活着更有价值，”壮猪认为，“兰尼斯特家的人赎金不菲。”
“He would be of more value alive,” suggested Strongboar. “Any Lannister would bring a hefty ransom.”
“这点毫无疑问，”马尔布兰承认，“怪就怪在没人来索要赎金，这孩子如同凭空蒸发了。”
“No doubt,” Marbrand agreed, “yet no ransom demand was ever made. The boy is simply gone.”
“他死了，”詹姆已喝下三杯葡萄酒，金手变得越来越沉，越来越笨拙。哼，倒不如装上钩子。“等那帮暴民明白自己杀的是谁，恐怕慌不择路地要把尸体投入河中，以防被我父亲发现。兰尼斯特有债必还，当年君临城破，泰温公爵教他们领教过滋味。”
“The boy is dead.” Jaime had drunk three cups of wine, and his golden hand seemed to be growing heavier and clumsier by the moment. A hook would serve me just as well. “If they realized whom they’d killed, no doubt they threw him in the river for fear of my father’s wrath. They know the taste of that in King’s Landing. Lord Tywin always paid his debts.”
“有债必还。”壮猪同意，大家也就此打住。
“Always,” Strongboar agreed, and that was the end of that.
不过等饭后在塔楼房间过夜时，詹姆自己却怀疑起来。再怎么说，提瑞克与蓝赛尔一道做过劳勃国王的侍从，他们晓得的秘密比黄金更贵重，比利刃更致命。他想到了瓦里斯，那个咯咯假笑、浑身散发着薰衣草香味的太监。全城都有此人的眼线密探，要在混乱中偷走提瑞克自是举手之劳……或许太监早就知道暴动将于何时何地发生。瓦里斯让我们大家相信，他是不可或缺的，他什么都清楚。然而这次暴动他却一分半点都没警告瑟曦，他甚至没到船边去送别弥赛菈。
Yet afterward, alone in the tower room he had been offered for the night, Jaime found himself wondering. Tyrek had served King Robert as a squire, side by side with Lancel. Knowledge could be more valuable than gold, more deadly than a dagger. It was Varys he thought of then, smiling and smelling of lavender. The eunuch had agents and informers all over the city. It would have been a simple matter for him to arrange to have Tyrek snatched during the confusion … provided he knew beforehand that the mob was like to riot. And Varys knew all, or so he would have us believe. Yet he gave Cersei no warning of that riot. Nor did he ride down to the ships to see Myrcella off.
詹姆打开窄窗。夜，越来越清冷，一轮弯月高挂天空，照在他的金手上，反射出昏暗的光。它掐不死太监，却可以打烂那张黏糊糊的笑脸，打个稀巴烂。他忽然很想打人。
He opened the shutters. The night was growing cold, and a horned moon rode the sky. His hand shone dully in its light. No good for throttling eunuchs, but heavy enough to smash that slimy smile into a fine red ruin. He wanted to hit someone.
伊林爵士正在擦剑。“时候到了。”他吩咐对方，刽子手便站起来随他下楼，破皮靴刮擦着陡峭的石阶。兵器库前有个小院子，詹姆找来两面盾牌、两顶头盔和一对比武用的钝剑，把它们分给派恩，自己左手握剑，右手穿进盾牌的绑带。他的金手能抓东西，却握不牢，所以盾牌很松。“你曾是位堂堂正正的骑士，爵士先生，”詹姆喊道，“和我一样。让我们看看自己现在变成什么样了吧。”
Jaime found Ser Ilyn honing his greatsword. “It’s time,” he told the man. The headsman rose and followed, his cracked leather boots scraping against the steep stone steps as they went down the stair. A small courtyard opened off the armory. Jaime found two shields there, two halfhelms, and a pair of blunted tourney swords. He offered one to Payne and took the other in his left hand as he slid his right through the loops of the shield. His golden fingers were curved enough to hook, but could not grasp, so his hold upon the shield was loose. “You were a knight once, ser,” Jaime said. “So was I. Let us see what we are now.”
伊林爵士举剑回应，詹姆更不搭话，直接上前攻击。然而，尽管派恩的外表就像他的锁甲一样生了锈，也没有布蕾妮的强壮体魄，但詹姆递出的每一记都被他的钝剑或盾牌挡住。两人在弯月下舞蹈，两柄钝剑奏出钢铁的乐章，沉默的骑士让詹姆好好攻击了一阵，最后才发起反击。他连连打中詹姆的大腿、肩膀和上臂，三次划过头盔，一记猛斩打飞了詹姆右臂的盾牌，力道之猛，差点把连接金手与断肢的绷带扯断。等收剑住手时，詹姆已然遍体淤伤，酒全醒了，头脑无比清明。“我们每晚准时开战，”他告诉伊林爵士，“明天打，后天也打，天天打。直到我的左手变得跟我过去的右手一样强大为止。”
Ser Ilyn raised his blade in reply, and Jaime moved at once to the attack. Payne was as rusty as his ringmail, and not so strong as Brienne, yet he met every cut with his own blade, or interposed his shield. They danced beneath the horned moon as the blunted swords sang their steely song. The silent knight was content to let Jaime lead the dance for a while, but finally he began to answer stroke for stroke. Once he shifted to the attack, he caught Jaime on the thigh, on the shoulder, on the forearm. Thrice he made his head ring with cuts to the helm. One slash ripped the shield off his right arm, and almost burst the straps that bound his golden hand to his stump. By the time they lowered their swords he was bruised and battered, but the wine had burned away and his head was clear. “We will dance again,” he promised Ser Ilyn. “On the morrow, and the morrow. Every day we’ll dance, till I am as good with my left hand as ever I was with the right.”
伊林爵士张开嘴巴，发出一阵粗嘎的声音。他在笑啊，詹姆心中绞痛。
Ser Ilyn opened his mouth and made a clacking sound. A laugh, Jaime realized. Something twisted in his gut.
第二天早上，无人敢提及他的伤势，看来他们昨晚睡得跟死猪一样。只有下山时，小子卢·派柏替骑士老爷们问了这个不该问的问题。詹姆朝他咧嘴笑道：“你不知道吗，哈佛家的女仆精力特别旺？她们会咬人呢，小子。”
Come morning, none of the others was so bold as to make mention of his bruises. Not one of them had heard the sound of swordplay in the night, it would seem. Yet when they climbed back down to camp, Little Lew Piper voiced the question the knights and lordlings dared not ask. Jaime grinned at him. “They have lusty wenches in House Hayford. These are love bites, lad.”
这天仍然阳光明媚、微风吹拂，接下来的一天多云，再来的三天就是下雨了．。但对于队伍来说，这些都没差，他们风雨无阻地沿国王大道北进，保持着稳定速度，而每晚詹姆都会找个私密之地，留下更多爱的伤痕。他们在马厩里打，有独眼的驴作见证；他们在酒店地窖里打，周围是装满葡萄酒和麦酒的木桶；他们在石制大谷仓焦黑的残骸里打；他们在浅溪中林木茂盛的沙洲上打；他们也在空旷的原野上打过，任凭雨水哗哗地拍打头盔与盾牌。
Another bright and blustery day was followed by a cloudy one, then three days of rain. Wind and water made no matter. The column kept its pace, north along the kingsroad, and each night Jaime found some private place to win himself more love bites. They fought inside a stable as a one-eyed mule looked on, and in the cellar of an inn amongst the casks of wine and ale. They fought in the blackened shell of a big stone barn, on a wooded island in a shallow stream, and in an open field as the rain pattered softly against their helms and shields.
詹姆找了各种借口，但他没有蠢到认为大家真的相信。至少，亚当．马尔布兰了解实情，众多亲随也各有猜测。当然，没人敢在他面前说出口……唯一的证人是个哑巴，不用担心弑君者功夫浅薄的事实泄露出去。
Jaime made excuses for his nightly forays, but he was not so foolish as to think that they were believed. Addam Marbrand knew what he was about, surely, and some of his other captains must have suspected. But no one spoke of it in his hearing … and since the only witness lacked a tongue, he need not fear anyone learning just how inept a swordsman the Kingslayer had become.
现今，到处都能看到战争留下的满目疮痍。田野里，本该是收获秋小麦的时节，然而野草、荆棘与灌木长到马头那么高，国王大道上见不到一个旅人，从黄昏到清晨，都是狼群的天下，它们连人都不怕。马尔布兰的一名斥候下马撒尿，回头马已被扑杀。“如此放肆的畜生，”“好人”博尼佛爵士悲天悯人地说，“定是披着狼皮的恶魔，用来惩罚我们的罪孽。”
Soon the signs of war could be seen on every hand. Weeds and thorns and brushy trees grew high as a horse’s head in fields where autumn wheat should be ripening, the kingsroad was bereft of travelers, and wolves ruled the weary world from dusk till dawn. Most of the animals were wary enough to keep their distance, but one of Marbrand’s outriders had his horse run off and killed when he dismounted for a piss. “No beast would be so bold,” declared Ser Bonifer the Good, of the stern sad face. “These are demons in the skins of wolves, sent to chastise us for our sins.”