天空低垂，空气闷热，但那里有点东西能让他脊椎发痒，雨。他想，风暴就要来了，不是今晚，今天明天，巴利斯坦爵士琢磨着自己能不能够活到看到它。要是哈兹达尔有自己的蜘蛛，我就已经和死了差不多了。要是非死不可，他希望能像活着一样，手里拿着长剑。
The sky was overcast, the air hot, muggy, oppressive, yet there was something in it that made his spine tingle. Rain, he thought. A storm is coming. If not tonight, upon the morrow. Ser Barristan wondered if he would live to see it. If Hizdahr has his own Spider, I am as good as dead. Should it come to that, he meant to die as he had lived, with his longsword in his hand.
当最后一线天光消逝在西边奴隶湾那些船帆背后时，巴利斯坦爵士回到室内，叫来两个仆人让他们给他烧水洗澡。一下午和他的待从们一起训练让他混身都是汗。
When the last light had faded in the west, behind the sails of the prowling ships on Slaver’s Bay, Ser Barristan went back inside, summoned a pair of serving men, and told them to heat some water for a bath. Sparring with his squires in the afternoon heat had left him feeling soiled and sweaty.
水只是温热，但赛尔弥一直在浴缸里呆到水变凉了，他把自己的皮肤擦得发红。等到洗得一尘不染，他站起来擦干自己，穿 上从里到外一身的白衣，袜子，小衣，丝绸的束腰外衣，夹层猎装，都是刚刚洗过漂白的。在外面他又穿上王后送他的凯甲，链甲做工细致，柔软得像好皮革，胸甲坚如冰明如雪。白色皮革腰带扣着金环，上面一边佩着匕首，一边是长剑。最后，他披上白斗篷，在肩上系好。
The water, when it came, was only lukewarm, but Selmy lingered in the bath until it had grown cold and scrubbed his skin till it was raw. Clean as he had ever been, he rose, dried himself, and clad himself in whites. Stockings, smallclothes, silken tunic, padded jerkin, all fresh-washed and bleached. Over that he donned the armor that the queen had given him as a token of her esteem. The mail was gilded, finely wrought, the links as supple as good leather, the plate enameled, hard as ice and bright as new-fallen snow. His dagger went on one hip, his longsword on the other, hung from a white leather belt with golden buckles. Last of all he took down his long white cloak and fastened it about his shoulders.
他没带头盔，怕影响视线，他需要能看到发生了什么事。金字塔大厅暗如黑夜，敌人可能从每个方向冲过来。另外，他头盔上装饰的龙翅膀虽然看起来夺目，但太容易引来剑斧了。要是七神允许的话，他该把它留到下次比武大会用。
The helm he left upon its hook. The narrow eye slit limited his vision, and he needed to be able to see for what was to come. The halls of the pyramid were dark at night, and foes could come at you from either side. Besides, though the ornate dragon’s wings that adorned the helm were splendid to look upon, they could too easily catch a sword or axe. He would leave them for his next tourney if the Seven should grant him one.
全副武装后，老骑士等待着，坐在他那挨着王后套房的小房间里。他曾经服务过却没能保护的国王的脸一个接一个浮现在黑暗里，还有那些与他在国王卫队一同战斗的兄弟们的脸。他琢磨着谁会做他将要做的事。肯定有些人，但不会是所有的。有些人会毫不犹豫地把光脖子当叛徒打倒。金字塔外开始下雨了，巴利斯坦爵士独自坐在黑暗里，聆听。雨声像是泪水声，他想着。像是死去的那些国王在哭泣。
Armed and armored, the old knight waited, sitting in the gloom of his small chamber adjoining the queen’s apartments. The faces of all the kings that he had served and failed floated before him in the darkness, and the faces of the brothers who had served beside him in the Kingsguard as well. He wondered how many of them would have done what he was about to do. Some, surely. But not all. Some would not have hesitated to strike down the Shavepate as a traitor. Outside the pyramid, it began to rain. Ser Barristan sat alone in the dark, listening. It sounds like tears, he thought. It sounds like dead kings, weeping.
现在是时候动身了。
Then it was time to go.
弥林的大金字塔是仿照GHIS的大金字塔建的，Lomas Longstrider曾经看到过那些巨大的废墟。象它的古代先祖一样，红色的大理石大堂现在满是蝙蝠和蜘蛛，弥林金字塔号称有33层，这数字都能吓着GHIS的神灵。巴利斯坦爵士独自开始漫长的行程，下楼时白斗篷在他身后飞舞。他走的是仆人楼梯，没有大理由砌的宽敞楼道，更窄，更陡，笔直的楼梯藏在厚厚的砖墙后面。
The Great Pyramid of Meereen had been built as an echo to the Great Pyramid of Ghis whose collossal ruins Lomas Longstrider had once visited. Like its ancient predecessor, whose red marble halls were now the haunt of bats and spiders, the Meereenese pyramid boasted three-and-thirty levels, that number being somehow sacred to the gods of Ghis. Ser Barristan began the long descent alone, his white cloak rippling behind him as he started down. He took the servants’ steps, not the grand stairways of veined marble, but the narrower, steeper, straighter stairs hidden within the thick brick walls.
走下12层后他发现光脖子等在那里，他的粗壮面孔仍藏在今天早上他戴过的面具后面，血蝙蝠。6个青铜野兽和他一起，都戴着昆虫的面具，都一个样子。
Twelve levels down he found the Shavepate waiting, his coarse features still hidden by the mask he had worn that morning, the blood bat. Six Brazen Beasts were with him. All were masked as insects, identical to one another.
蝗虫，赛尔弥意识到。“格罗里奥，”他说，
Locusts, Selmy realized. “Groleo,” he said.
“格罗里奥，”一个蝗虫回答。
“Groleo,” one of the locusts replied.
“你需要的话，我还有更多的蝗虫，”斯卡哈兹说。
“I have more locusts if you need them,” said Skahaz.
“6个够了，守门的人怎么样？”
“Six should serve. What of the men on the doors?”
“我的人，你不会有麻烦的。”
“Mine. You will have no trouble.”
巴利斯坦爵士拍下光脖子的手臂，“不是必须的话不要流血，明天早上过来，我们组成一个议事会来告诉这个城市我们做了什么，还有为什么。”
Ser Barristan clasped the Shavepate by the arm. “Shed no blood unless you must. Come the morrow we will convene a council and tell the city what we’ve done and why.”
“照你说的。老头，祝你好运。”
“As you say. Good fortune to you, old man.”
他们分走不同道路，巴利斯坦爵士继续下楼，青铜野兽们跟在他身后。
They went their separate ways. The Brazen Beasts fell in behind Ser Barristan as he continued his descent.
国王的套房在金字塔的正中心，16和17楼，等赛尔弥到时，他发现通向内部的门关着并上了铁链，门口有两个青铜野兽守着。在他们百纳斗篷兜帽下面，一个是老鼠，一个是公牛。
The king’s apartments were buried in the very heart of the pyramid, on the sixteenth and seventeenth levels. When Selmy reached those floors, he found the doors to the interior of the pyramid chained shut, with a pair of Brazen Beasts posted as guards. Beneath the hoods of their patchwork cloaks, one was a rat, the other a bull.
“格罗里奥，”巴利斯坦爵士说。
“Groleo,” Ser Barristan said.
“格罗里奥，”公牛回答。“右面第三个厅。”老鼠打开了铁链，巴利斯坦爵士和他的护卫走进了一个狭窄的，点着火炬的红黑砖砌砌佣人通道。他们通过了两个厅进入右面第三个，脚步声回响着。
“Groleo,” the bull returned. “Third hall to the right.” The rat unlocked the chain. Ser Barristan and his escort stepped through into a narrow, torchlit servants’ corridor of red and black brick. Their footsteps echoed on the floors as they strode past two halls and took the third one to the right.
在国王套房雕花硬木大门外站着钢皮，一个年轻的角斗士，还算不得第一流的。他的脸上是绿色和黑色的复杂纹身，是古老的瓦拉里尔巫术记号，用于把他的皮肉变得坚硬如铁。相似的记呈还在他的脸上和胳膊上，虽然现在还不知道他们能不能挡住剑或斧头。
Outside the carved hardwood doors to the king’s chambers stood Steelskin, a younger pit fighter, not yet regarded as of the first rank. His cheeks and brow were scarred with intricate tattoos in green and black, ancient Valyrian sorcerer’s signs that supposedly made his flesh and skin as hard as steel. Similar markings covered his chest and arms, though whether they would actually stop a sword or axe remained to be seen.
就算没这些，钢皮看起来也够吓人的了——这个瘦硬的年轻人跨上半步，“谁在那儿？”他喊道，用长斧挡住了去路，当他看见是巴利斯坦爵士和身后的青铜蝗虫时，他放下了长斧，“老大人。”
Even without them, Steelskin looked formidable—a lean and wiry youth who overtopped Ser Barristan by half a foot. “Who goes there?” he called out, swinging his longaxe sideways to bar their way. When he saw Ser Barristan, with the brass locusts behind him, he lowered it again. “Old Ser.”
“要是国王高兴的话，我需要和他谈几句。”
“If it please the king, I must needs have words with him.”
“时间很晚了。”
“The hour is late.”
“时间是晚了，但很紧急。”
“The hour is late, but the need is urgent.”
“我去问问。”钢皮把长斧靠在门上，打开了旁边一个门洞，里面露出一个孩子的眼睛，孩子的声音从门里传出来，钢皮回答了他。巴利斯坦爵士听到重重的门栓被拉开的声音，门打开了。
“I can ask.” Steelskin slammed the butt of his longaxe against the door to the king’s apartments. A slidehole opened. A child’s eye appeared. A child’s voice called through the door. Steelskin replied. Ser Barristan heard the sound of a heavy bar being drawn back. The door swung open.
“只能你自己，”钢皮说，“野兽们在这等。”
“Only you,” said Steelskin. “The beasts wait here.”
“好的。”巴利斯坦爵士对蝗虫们点了点头。其中一个点头做答。赛尔弥一个人走进了门内。
“As you wish.” Ser Barristan nodded to the locusts. One returned his nod. Alone, Selmy slipped through the door.
里面一片漆黑，没有窗子，四面都是8英尺厚的砖墙，国王的房间里面宽敞豪华。黑橡木的大柱子支撑着高高的天花板，地板上铺着魁尔斯的丝织地毯。墙上古旧的挂毯价值连城，上面描绘着古老Ghis帝国的荣光，其中最大的一幅画着瓦拉里败军最后的幸存者戴着桎梏和铁链行进。通向卧室的拱廊上守着一对香木的恋人，雕刻打磨的，上面打了油。巴利斯坦看到了就觉得心慌意乱，不过毫无疑问那就是想要达到这效果的。我们越快离开这地方越好。
Dark and windowless, surrounded on all sides by brick walls eight feet thick, the chambers that the king had made his own were large and luxurious within. Great beams of black oak supported the high ceilings. The floors were covered with silk carpets out of Qarth. On the walls were priceless tapestries, ancient and much faded, depicting the glory of the Old Empire of Ghis. The largest of them showed the last survivors of a defeated Valyrian army passing beneath the yoke and being chained. The archway leading to the royal bedchamber was guarded by a pair of sandalwood lovers, shaped and smoothed and oiled. Ser Barristan found them distasteful, though no doubt they were meant to be arousing. The sooner we are gone from this place, the better.
一个铁炉子是唯一的光源，旁边坐着两个女王的待酒，达拉凯兹和奎兹。“米克拉兹去叫醒国王了，”奎兹说，“要我们给你倒点酒吗，大人？”
An iron brazier gave the only light. Beside it stood two of the queen’s cupbearers, Draqaz and Qezza. “Miklaz has gone to wake the king,” said Qezza. “May we bring you wine, ser?”
“不了，谢谢。”
“No. I thank you.”
“你可以坐下，”达拉奎兹指了指一个板凳。
“You may sit,” said Draqaz, indicating a bench.
“我情愿站着。”他能听到拱廊那面卧室里传出的声音，有一个是国王的声音。
“I prefer to stand.” He could hear voices drifting through the archway from the bedchamber. One of them was the king’s.
等了有一会国王哈兹达尔-佐-拉罗克，第14，才打着哈欠走了出来，，一边系着他睡袍的带子。袍子是绿绸子的，装饰着大量的珍珠和银线，下面国王什么也没穿。这样不错，裸体的人会感到脆弱，更不容易有拼个鱼死网破的举动。
It was still a good few moments before King Hizdahr zo Loraq, Fourteenth of That Noble Name, emerged yawning, knotting the sash that closed his robe. The robe was green satin, richly worked with pearls and silver thread. Under it the king was quite naked. That was good. Naked men felt vulnerable and were less inclined to acts of suicidal heroism.
巴利斯坦爵士还描到拱廊那边一个帘子后一个裸体的女人，她的胸与腿在丝绸下面遮遮掩掩。
The woman Ser Barristan glimpsed peering through the archway from behind a gauzy curtain was naked as well, her breasts and hips only partially concealed by the blowing silk.
“巴利斯坦大人，”哈兹达尔又在打哈欠。“这都几点了？是有关我那甜蜜女王的消息吗？”
“Ser Barristan.” Hizdahr yawned again. “What hour is it? Is there news of my sweet queen?”
“不是，your grace。”
“None, Your Grace.”
哈兹达尔叹了口气：“请说Your Magnificence，虽然在这个时间，说your sleepness也挺合适。”国王走到一边去给自己倒一杯酒，但发现瓶子里只剩几滴了。他的脸上闪过了几分不耐：“米克拉兹，酒，马上。”
Hizdahr sighed. “ ‘Your Magnificence,’ please. Though at this hour, ‘Your Sleepiness’ would be more apt.” The king crossed to the sideboard to pour himself a cup of wine, but only a trickle remained in the bottom of the flagon. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face. “Miklaz, wine. At once.”
“是的，陛下。”
“Yes, Your Worship.”
“让达拉奎兹和你一起。一瓶阿博金酒，再来一瓶甜红酒。不要你们那种黄尿，谢谢。下次要是我发现酒瓶是空的，我就要扇你们那粉嫩的脸蛋。”男孩跑了出去，国王转向赛尔弥：“我梦见你找到丹尼莉斯了。”
“Take Draqaz with you. One flagon of Arbor gold, and one of that sweet red. None of our yellow piss, thank you. And the next time I find my flagon dry, I may have to take a switch to those pretty pink cheeks of yours.” The boy went running off, and the king turned back to Selmy. “I dreamed you found Daenerys.”
“梦是会说谎的，陛下（Your Grace）。”
“Dreams can lie, Your Grace.”
“Your Radiance也会不错。那你为什么这个时间过来，大人？城里有什么麻烦吗？”
“ ‘Your Radiance’ would serve. What brings you to me at this hour, ser? Some trouble in the city?”
“城里很平静。”
“The city is tranquil.”
“是吗？”哈兹达尔看起来很迷惑，“那你为什么而来？”
“Is it so?” Hizdahr looked confused. “Why have you come?”
“问一个问题。陛下（译者：这里他倒是用更尊敬的Magnificence了，英语译成汉语真是没法不流失呀），你就是鹰身女妖吗？”
“To ask a question. Magnificence, are you the Harpy?”
哈兹达尔的酒杯从手指中滑落，在地毯来弹了一下，滚了开去。“你在这么晚来到我的卧房就是要问我这个？你疯了吗？”到这时国王好象才发现巴利斯坦爵士一身铠甲。“怎么……为什么……你怎么敢……”
Hizdahr’s wine cup slipped through his fingers, bounced off the carpet, rolled. “You come to my bedchamber in the black of night and ask me that? Are you mad?” It was only then that the king seemed to notice that Ser Barristan was wearing his plate and mail. “What … why … how dare you …”
“毒药是你下的吗？Magnificence？”
“Was the poison your work, Magnificence?”
国王哈兹达尔后了一步。“那些蝗虫？那……那是多恩人干的，昆廷，那个所谓的王子。要是你不信我就去问雷兹纳克。”
King Hizdahr backed away a step. “The locusts? That … that was the Dornishman. Quentyn, the so-called prince. Ask Reznak if you doubt me.”
“你有证据吗？雷兹纳克有吗？”
“Have you proof of that? Has Reznak?”
“没有，不然我就把他们抓起来了。也许我不管怎样还是该把他们抓起来。马格哈兹会让他们认罪的，我不怀疑。他们都是下毒者，这帮多恩人。雷兹纳克说他们崇拜蛇。”
“No, else I would have had them seized. Perhaps I should do so in any case. Marghaz will wring a confession out of them, I do not doubt. They’re all poisoners, these Dornish. Reznak says they worship snakes.”
“他们吃蛇，”巴利斯坦爵士说，“那是你的角斗场，你的包厢，你的座位。甜酒和软靠垫，无花果和甜瓜，还有蜂蜜蝗虫，你提供了所有的东西。你催她去尝蝗虫，但你自己一口也没碰过。”
“They eat snakes,” said Ser Barristan. “It was your pit, your box, your seats. Sweet wine and soft cushions, figs and melons and honeyed locusts. You provided all. You urged Her Grace to try the locusts but never tasted one yourself.”
“我……我不喜欢热辣口味的。她是我妻子，我的女王，为什么我会想毒死她？”
“I … hot spices do not agree with me. She was my wife. My queen. Why would I want to poison her?”
他用的是过去时。他相信她死了。“只有你能回答了，陛下。也许是因为你想在她的位置上放个别的女人。”巴利斯坦爵士向那个卧房里向外偷看的女孩那里点了点头，“也许就是那个？”
Was, he says. He believes her dead. “Only you can answer that, Magnificence. It might be that you wished to put another woman in her place.” Ser Barristan nodded at the girl peering timidly from the bedchamber. “That one, perhaps?”
国王看起来抓狂了，“她？她什么也不是，一个床奴罢了。”他举起双手，“我说错了，不是奴隶。是个自由人，受过取阅男人的训练。就算是国王也有需要啊，她……她无关紧要，大人，我永远也不会伤害丹尼莉斯，永远。”
The king looked around wildly. “Her? She’s nothing. A bedslave.” He raised his hands. “I misspoke. Not a slave. A free woman. Trained in pleasure. Even a king has needs, she … she is none of your concern, ser. I would never harm Daenerys. Never.”
“你催女王去尝蝗虫，我听到你说了。”
“You urged the queen to try the locusts. I heard you.”
“我想着她可能会喜欢。”哈兹达尔又退了一步，“又辣又甜。”
“I thought she might enjoy them.” Hizdahr retreated another step. “Hot and sweet at once.”
“又辣又甜又有毒。我亲耳听到你命人去角斗场里把龙杀掉。你对着他们喊。”
“Hot and sweet and poisoned. With mine own ears I heard you commanding the men in the pit to kill Drogon. Shouting at them.”
哈兹达尔舔着嘴唇，“那牲口吞下了巴斯纳。龙吃人的，他在杀，烧……”
Hizdahr licked his lips. “The beast devoured Barsena’s flesh. Dragons prey on men. It was killing, burning …”
“……烧要害你的女王的人。鹰身女妖之子，你的朋友。”
“… burning men who meant harm to your queen. Harpy’s Sons, as like as not. Your friends.”
“不是我的朋友。”
“Not my friends.”
“你当然这么说，但你告诉他们停止杀人时他们遵命了。你要不是他们的一员他们为什么这么做？”
“You say that, yet when you told them to stop killing they obeyed. Why would they do that if you were not one of them?”
哈兹纳克摇着头，这一次他没有回答。
Hizdahr shook his head. This time he did not answer.
“告诉我实话，”巴利斯坦爵士说，“你有没有爱过她，哪怕就一小点？还是你只是为了垂涎这王冠？”
“Tell me true,” Ser Barristan said, “did you ever love her, even a little? Or was it just the crown you lusted for?”
“垂涎？你怎么敢这么说我？”国王的嘴愤怒地扭动着。“我垂涎王冠，好吧……但不如她垂涎那个雇佣兵一半。没准是她那宝贝的队长想要毒死她，因为他被扔到了一边。要是我也吃了蝗虫，那就更好了。”
“Lust? You dare speak to me of lust?” The king’s mouth twisted in anger. “I lusted for the crown, aye … but not half so much as she lusted for her sellsword. Perhaps it was her precious captain who tried to poison her, for putting him aside. And if I had eaten of his locusts too, well, so much the better.”
“达里奥是个杀手，但不是下毒者。”巴利斯坦爵士逼近国王。”你是鹰身女妖吗？”这一回他把手放在了剑柄上。“告诉我实话，我保证让你死得利落。”
“Daario is a killer but not a poisoner.” Ser Barristan moved closer to the king. “Are you the Harpy?” This time he put his hand on the hilt of his longsword. “Tell me true, and I promise you shall have a swift, clean death.”
“你都是在推想，大人，”哈兹达尔说。“我受够你这些问题了，也受够你了。你被开除了，想活命的话马上离开弥林。”
“You presume too much, ser,” said Hizdahr. “I am done with these questions, and with you. You are dismissed from my service. Leave Meereen at once and I will let you live.”
“如果你不是鹰身女妖，那告诉我他的名字。”巴利斯坦爵士长剑出鞘，利刃反着火光，成为一线橙色的火焰。”
“If you are not the Harpy, give me his name.” Ser Barristan pulled his sword from the scabbard. Its sharp edge caught the light from the brazier, became a line of orange fire.
哈兹达尔尖叫道，“卡拉兹！”一边踉跄往自己的卧房后退。“卡拉兹，卡拉兹！”
Hizdahr broke. “Khrazz!” he shrieked, stumbling backwards toward his bedchamber. “Khrazz! Khrazz!”
巴利斯坦爵士听到在他左边门打开了。他及时转身，看到卡拉兹从一块挂毯后跳了出来。他移动缓慢，仍然没有全醒，但武器在手，一把多斯拉克弯刀，又长又弯。专门用来从马背上砍下来，造成又深又细的伤口。角斗场和战场都适用的凶残武器，专门对付半裸的敌手。但这是室内只能近战身博斗，而巴利斯坦爵士一身铠甲。
Ser Barristan heard a door open, somewhere to his left. He turned in time to see Khrazz emerge from behind a tapestry. He moved slowly, still groggy from sleep, but his weapon of choice was in his hand: a Dothraki arakh, long and curved. A slasher’s sword, made to deliver deep, slicing cuts from horseback. A murderous blade against half-naked foes, in the pit or on the battlefield. But here at close quarters, the arakh’s length would tell against it, and Barristan Selmy was clad in plate and mail.
“我在这是为了哈兹达尔，”骑士说，“扔掉你的兵器站一边去，我就不会伤害你。”
“I am here for Hizdahr,” the knight said. “Throw down your steel and stand aside, and no harm need come to you.”
卡拉兹笑了，“老家伙，我要吃掉你的心。”两个人差不多一样高，但卡拉兹重了两石，而且年轻40岁，苍白的皮肤，死鱼眼睛，还有一道红黑色的硬发从眉骨留到了后颈。
Khrazz laughed. “Old man. I will eat your heart.” The two men were of a height, but Khrazz was two stone heavier and forty years younger, with pale skin, dead eyes, and a crest of bristly red-black hair that ran from his brow to the base of his neck.
“那就来吧。”无畏的巴利斯坦说。
“Then come,” said Barristan the Bold.
卡拉兹冲了过来。
Khrazz came.
在这一整天里第一次，赛尔弥感到心中有数。这才是天生我才要做的事，他想道。舞蹈，甜蜜的钢铁之歌，一剑在手，敌人在前。
For the first time all day, Selmy felt certain. This is what I was made for, he thought. The dance, the sweet steel song, a sword in my hand and a foe before me.
角斗士动作快如闪电，是巴利斯坦爵士所遇到的对手里最快的人。在那大手里，弯刀带着啸声，织成一片钢铁风景，仿佛从三面同时向老骑士袭来。大多数招式都是冲着他的脑袋，卡拉兹不是傻子，没戴头盔的赛尔弥最脆弱的地方是脖子之上。
The pit fighter was fast, blazing fast, as quick as any man Ser Barristan had ever fought. In those big hands, the arakh became a whistling blur, a steel storm that seemed to come at the old knight from three directions at once. Most of the cuts were aimed at his head. Khrazz was no fool. Without a helm, Selmy was most vulnerable above the neck.
他镇静地一一挡开来招，他的长剑迎上了每一次砍击并把它挡到了一边。锋刃交击声不断。巴利斯坦爵士撤后，用眼睛的余光他看到待酒们正在看着，眼睛瞪得像白色的鸡蛋。卡拉兹咒骂着，一刀从高改为低砍，这一次滑过了老骑士的剑锋，却毫无用处地刮在白铁胫甲上。而赛尔弥的回击去找到了角斗士的肩，割开了他的亚麻衣服，深深见肉。他的黄色束腰外衣变成了粉色，然后是红色。
He blocked the blows calmly, his longsword meeting each slash and turning it aside. The blades rang and rang again. Ser Barristan retreated. On the edge of his vision, he saw the cupbearers watching with eyes as big and white as chicken eggs. Khrazz cursed and turned a high cut into a low one, slipping past the old knight’s blade for once, only to have his blow scrape uselessly off a white steel greave. Selmy’s answering slash found the pit fighter’s left shoulder, parting the fine linen to bite the flesh beneath. His yellow tunic began to turn pink, then red.
“只有懦夫才穿铁甲，”卡拉兹叫道，围着他转个不停。在角斗场没人穿凯甲。观众要看的就是血：死亡，断肢，还有痛苦的尖叫，这是红沙的音乐。
“Only cowards dress in iron,” Khrazz declared, circling. No one wore armor in the fighting pits. It was blood the crowds came for: death, dismemberment, and shrieks of agony, the music of the scarlet sands.
巴利斯坦爵士随着他转身。“懦夫正要杀了你，大人。”这个人不是骑士，但他的勇气配得上这样的礼貌。卡拉兹不懂怎么去和一个穿凯甲的人作战。巴利斯坦爵士从他的眼睛里能看出来：怀疑，迷惑，开始恐惧。角斗士又冲上来，这一次尖叫着，好象如果手里的兵器不能杀了对手，声音就可以似的。弯刀上劈下砍。
Ser Barristan turned with him. “This coward is about to kill you, ser.” The man was no knight, but his courage had earned him that much courtesy. Khrazz did not know how to fight a man in armor. Ser Barristan could see it in his eyes: doubt, confusion, the beginnings of fear. The pit fighter came on again, screaming this time, as if sound could slay his foe where steel could not. The arakh slashed low, high, low again.
“在角斗场里这已经把你胳膊卸掉了，老头。”
“In the pit that would have taken your arm off, old man.”
“我们不是在角斗场。”
“We are not in the pit.”
“脱下凯甲！”
“Take off that armor!”
“现在扔掉你的兵器还不晚，投降。”
“It is not too late to throw down your steel. Yield.”
“去死，”卡拉兹唾道……但当他举起弯刀时，剑尖刮到了一个墙挂上绊住了。这就是巴利斯坦爵士所需要的全部机会。他划开了角斗士的肚子，挡开了脱开的弯刀，当角斗士的内脏象一堆鳗鱼一样流出来时，一剑穿心结果了对方。
“Die,” spat Khrazz … but as he lifted his arakh, its tip grazed one of the wall hangings and hung. That was all the chance Ser Barristan required. He slashed open the pit fighter’s belly, parried the arakh as it wrenched free, then finished Khrazz with a quick thrust to the heart as the pit fighter’s entrails came sliding out like a nest of greasy eels.
鲜血和内脏弄脏了国王的丝织地毯子。赛尔弥退后一步，他手中的长剑一半已经变成红色。一些木炭散落在地毯上开始冒烟。他能听到可怜的奎扎在抽泣。“别怕，孩子，”老骑士说，“我不会伤害你，我只要国王。”
Blood and viscera stained the king’s silk carpets. Selmy took a step back. The longsword in his hand was red for half its length. Here and there the carpets had begun to smolder where some of the scattered coals had fallen. He could hear poor Qezza sobbing. “Don’t be afraid,” the old knight said. “I mean you no harm, child. I want only the king.”
他用一块窗帘擦干净长剑，走进卧室，在里面他找到了哈兹达尔-佐-拉罗克，第十四，藏在一块挂毯后面呜咽。“饶了我吧，”他乞求道，“我不想死。”
He wiped his sword clean on a curtain and stalked into the bedchamber, where he found Hizdahr zo Loraq, Fourteenth of His Noble Name, hiding behind a tapestry and whimpering. “Spare me,” he begged. “I do not want to die.”
“没人想。但所有人都难逃一死，不管怎样。”巴利斯坦爵士收起长剑，把哈兹达尔拉起来。“来吧，我护送你去牢房。”到现在，青铜野兽们应该已经解决钢皮武装了。“我们会把你关到女王回来。如果证明你没罪的话，你不会受到伤害的。你有我作为骑士的保证。”他抓起国王的胳膊带他走出卧房，感觉头有点轻，几乎像喝醉了酒。我过去是国王护卫，现在我是什么？
“Few do. Yet all men die, regardless.” Ser Barristan sheathed his sword and pulled Hizdahr to his feet. “Come. I will escort you to a cell.” By now, the Brazen Beasts should have disarmed Steelskin. “You will be kept a prisoner until the queen returns. If nothing can be proved against you, you will not come to harm. You have my word as a knight.” He took the king’s arm and led him from the bedchamber, feeling strangely light-headed, almost drunk. I was a Kingsguard. What am I now?
米克拉兹和达拉奎兹拿着哈兹达尔要的酒回来了。他们站在大开的门前，把酒瓶紧抱在胸口，直直地盯着卡拉兹的尸体。奎扎还在哭，但加泽尼出现了，正在安抚她。她抱着小女孩，抚摸她的头发。其他一些待酒站在一边看着。“殿下，”米克拉兹说，“高贵的雷兹纳克-莫-雷兹纳克说要和你说话，赶快来。”
Miklaz and Draqaz had returned with Hizdahr’s wine. They stood in the open door, cradling the flagons against their chests and staring wide-eyed at the corpse of Khrazz. Qezza was still crying, but Jezhene had appeared to comfort her. She hugged the younger girl, stroking her hair. Some of the other cupbearers stood behind them, watching. “Your Worship,” Miklaz said, “the noble Reznak mo Reznak says to t-tell you, come at once.”
这孩子对国王说话，就好象巴利斯坦爵士不在那儿一样，就好像地毯上没有一个死人，他身上所有的血没有漫过地毯子一样。斯卡哈兹应该把雷兹纳克关起来直到能证明他的忠诚呀。哪里出错了？“到哪？”巴利斯坦爵士问男孩。“总管要国王殿下去哪？”
The boy addressed the king as if Ser Barristan were not there, as if there were no dead man sprawled upon the carpet, his life’s blood slowly staining the silk red. Skahaz was supposed to take Reznak into custody until we could be certain of his loyalty. Had something gone awry? “Come where?” Ser Barristan asked the boy. “Where does the seneschal want His Grace to go?”
“外面。”米克拉兹第一次看他。“外面，大人，露台上，看。”
“Outside.” Miklaz seemed to see him for the first time. “Outside, ser. To the t-terrace. To see.”
“看什么？”
“To see what?”
“龙——龙，龙被放出来了，大人。”
“D-d-dragons. The dragons have been loosed, ser.”
七神拯救我们，老骑士想道。
Seven save us all, the old knight thought.