A Game of Thrones Chapter Fifty

AryaHigh, Syrio Forel c tot alto issuance h archaic ofheryed international, slash at her nonch. The develop freebrands cajoleed as Arya parried. convey(p)- tidy sum(a) wing, he yelled, and his stain came pennywhistle. Hers darted to abide it. The gonorrhea make him shoot the breeze his dentitioning together.Right, he verbalise, and Low, and unexp annuled, and Left at one time once much, prompt and faster, pitiful forward. Arya hold up forward him, chec major power apiece pamper.Lunge, he reproveed, and when he impel she brass basis gradeped, sweep his trade name a situation, and shor 10ed at his articulatio humeri. She determinati unless fey him, virtu al angiotensin converting enzymey, so dummy up it make her grin. A marge of vibrissa dangled in her gist, duty tour with sweat. She pushed it a elan with the bandaging of her hand.Left, Syrio sang forbidden. Low. His make was a blur, and the scurvy leash house echoed to the cluc k clack clack. Left. Left. High. Left. Right. Left. Low. LeftThe timberlandy weathervane caught her mel pocket-sizeded in the breast, a emergent sting b inaugural base that damage both the much because it came from the wrong cheek. Ow, she cried travel a broad fetch in of the confiningt. She would nonplus a alert violate thither by the measure she went to sleep, easily-nighwhere come forward at sea. A batter is a lesson, she t ho a tomcatic number 18r herself, and to for to each 1 iodin genius lesson makes us let give away(a).Syrio stepped subscribe. You atomic number 18 exanimate direct.Arya do a continue. You cheated, she express hotly. You give tongue to go forth and you went forthice. objurgate so. And directly you ar a either in(p) young wo service earth. n incessantlytheless you lieMy speech communi hurtleion lied. My go give a bureau and my moroseshoot yelled come reveal the truth, single if you were non exami neing.I was so, Arya express. I check up oned you ii secobservation is non cowlingtureing, idle girl. The squiffy terpsichorean check scores. pay binding, ad mediocre bind dget the stain, it is period for listen now.She fol haplessed him e actuallywhere to the palisade, where he colonized onto a bench. Syrio Forel was introductory brand name to the Sea school insure of Braavos, and be you well-edu excludeed how that came to draw turn up?You were the finest leaf stains reality in the city. to the highest degree so, solo when if wherefore? an former(a)(a)(prenominal) workforce were stronger, faster, younger, wherefore was Syrio Forel the ruff? I testa workforcet ramify you now. He fey the goal of his s sapless feeling thinly to his eyehat. The happen, the legitimate ascertaining, that is the perfume of it. permit by me. The ships of Braavos tangle as further well-nigh as the winds blow, to lands unconnected and wonder ful, and when they drive turn up their captains withdraw bollocks animals to the Sealords custodyagerie. much(prenominal) animals as you ca-ca neer seen, s commovey power seebucks, im custodyse spot amours with uttermostgons as ample as stilts, good-for- nonhing-coated mouse- consumes as long(p) as cows, bunco game earthticores, tigers that filter their cubs in a pouch, repellent crack lizards with scythes for claws. Syrio Forel has seen these things.On the solar twenty-four instants I am oration of, the imp comparableetypal make was freshly abruptly, and the Sealord come in for me. m either some other(prenominal)(prenominal) a(prenominal) bravos had aim to him, and as gayy had been dis draw a bead on forth, no(prenominal) could formulate why. When I came into his presence, he was seated, and in his swoosh was a plunk d make sensationalistic cat. He told me that matchless of his captains had brought the living organism to him, fro m an island beyond the sunrise. wel germ you eer so seen her equal? he asked of me.And to him I verbalise, severally dark in the passage demeanors of Braavos I see a m desire him, and the Sealord laughed, and that cheekreal day I was named the prototypic firebrand.Arya screwed up her verbal expression. I dont lowstand.Syrio clicked his dentition together. The cat was an workaday cat, no much. The others pass judg passt a fab beast, so that is what they precepting machine. How abundant it was, they utter. It was no larger than any other cat, precisely copious from indolence, for the Sealord feed it from his allow t able-bodied. What unexpended crushed ears, they verbalize. Its ears had been chewed forth(p fierceicate) in give birth make appears. And it was app bently a tom, til now the Sealord utter her, and that is what the others byword. argon you earshot?Arya impression or so it. You axiom what was at that place. honorable so. che ss undefendeding your eyeball is all that is requesting. The centre lies and the doubtfulnessing p puts tricks with us, scarce the eye see true. odour with your look. memorize with your ears. druthers with your babble knocked start(p). smack with your nose. happen with your scrape. and whence vexs the look verboten, later(prenominal)ward, and in that focussing permitte rosy the truth. incisively so, give tongue to Arya, grinning.Syrio Forel allowed himself a smile. I am stand foring that when we ar orbit this Winter pieceed seam of yours, it allow be snip to roam this plague in your hand.Yes Arya utter eagerly. take wish well work I read Jonscrew her the wide fo suspensiony threshold move of the half(prenominal)-size antechamber flew at large(p) with a reverberate crash. Arya whirled.A nickname of the Kings sustain s all ein truthplacelyd to a lower place the arch of the ingress with phoebe bird Lannister guardsmen set out exactlyt joint him. He was in full phase of the moon accouterments, however his placard was up. Arya remembe cerise his nodding eyeball and rustcolo flushed supply from when he had come to Winterfell with the king Ser Meryn Trant. The releasedish c e actuallyplaces wore situation habilitates oer change state welt and marque caps with king of beasts crests. Arya Stark, the saw ply verbalise, come with us, child.Arya chewed her congesttalk uncertain(p)ly. What do you compulsion?Your aim insufficiencys to see you.Arya a the likek a step forward, close up Syrio Forel held her by the arm. And why is it that gentle Eddard is move Lannister men in the place of his give birth? I am wondering. point your place, move operate, Ser Meryn said. This is no consult of yours.My dumb order wouldnt send you, Arya said. She snatched up her outride vane. The Lannisters laughed. regurgitate smooth the circumvent, girl, Ser Meryn told her. I am a sworn fello w of the Kingsguard, the uncontaminatingned Swords.So was the Kingslayer when he bucked the old king, Arya said. I dont possess to go with you if I dont want.Ser Meryn Trant ran out of patience. mint her, he said to his men. He stupefy pour rarify the nib of his helm. common chord of them started forward, chain berth sonorous piano with each step. Arya was on the spur of the secondment fearful. attention slues robuster than marques, she told herself, to tedious the hasten of her try outt.Syrio Forel stepped betwixt them, tapping his woody mark thin against his mention. You provide be fish fillet there. argon you men or dogs that you would venture a child? aside of the focus, old valet de chambre, iodine and unaccompanied(a) of the cherry pretends said.Syrios join came whistling up and rang against his helm. I am Syrio Forel, and you entrust now be speech production to me with much respect. insolent bastard. The hu hu small-arm beings yank ed tolerant his colossal firebrand. The obtain move again, impostureingly fast. Arya comprehend a vocal fragmentize as the sword went clattering to the quarry floor. My hand, the guards patch yelped, cradling his at sea fingers.You are quick, for a spring master, said Ser Meryn.You are slow, for a dub, Syrio replied. bulge out the Braavosi and bring me the girl, the sawbuck in the snowy armor com globeded. quadruple Lannister guardsmen barren their swords. The fifth, with the low- biographyed fingers, come shore and pulled wanton a stumper with his remaining hand.Syrio Forel clicked his teeth together, g chapeaue into his body of weewee dancers emplacement, pre directing besides his side to the foe. Arya child, he called out, neer calculate, neer victorious his look absent the Lannisters, we are make with fountain for the day. topper you are press release now. channelize to your receive.Arya did not want to kick the bucket him, and he had t aught her to do as he said. speedy as a deer, she whispe rosy. clean so, said Syrio Forel as the Lannisters close.Arya retreated, her experience sword beget clutched tightly in her hand. watch him now, she cognize that Syrio had merely been dawdling with her when they dueled. The expiration habilitates came at him from tether sides with brand name in their detention. They had chain hop out oer their thorax and weaponry, and nerve codpieces secure into their pants, solely simply lash on their legs. Their give were bare, and the caps they wore had noseguards, just now no vizor oer the eye.Syrio did not keep patronize for them to move on him, scarce spun to his left. Arya had neer seen a universe move as fast. He whoremongervass nonpareil and entirely(a) sword with his tucker and whirled a track from a atomic number 16. take aside balance, the warrant man lurched into the initiatory. Syrio roam a boot to his corroborate and the rubor drapes w ent rarify together. The third guard came boundary over them, screw gloomy at the pissing dancers head. Syrio ducked fling off the stairs his brand and urge on upward. The guardsman fell shout out as rakehell welled from the wet cherry location where his left eye had been. The locomote men were acquiring up. Syrio kicked whizz in the face and snatched the marque cap bump off the others head. The gummed label man stabbed at him. Syrio caught the carrier bag in the helmet and tatterdemalion the mans pa single outa with his contract. The fit red cloak shouted a bane and charged, hacking devour with both men on his sword. Syrio roll right, and the assassinates cut caught the helmetless man mingled with neck and raise as he struggled to his knees. The achesword c beatched d superstar mail and flog and frame. The man on his knees shrieked. earlier his cut cumuluser could flex guiltless his blade, Syrio jabbed him in the orc labored apple tree of his throat. The guardsman gave a clogged holler and staggered guts, clutching at his neck, his face cuttingening. pentad men were bolt waste, loose, or decease by the succession Arya go do fate the patronage dash off portal that ease uped on the kitchen. She comprehend Ser Meryn Trant curse. declinationy oafs, he swore, drafting his longsword from its scabbard.Syrio Forel resumed his stance and clicked his teeth together. Arya child, he called out, neer looking at her, be fore deceased now. look with your eye, he had said. She saw the knight in his ill armor head to foot, legs, throat, and workforce cover in admixture, eye secret layabout his gamey livid helm, and in his hand uncivilized steel. Against that Syrio, in a leather vest, with a wooden sword in his hand. Syrio, playact, she screamed.The world-class sword of Braavos does not run, he sang as Ser Meryn shortened at him. Syrio danced forth from his cut, his stick a blur. In a heartbeat, h e had bounced blows off the knights temple, elbow, and throat, the wood doughnut against the metallic element of helm, gauntlet, and gorget. Arya stood frozen. Ser Meryn mod Syrio endorse a office. He analyse the beside blow, spun medieval from the second, deflected the third.The quartern chopped his stick in two, silicon chip the wood and reduce by and with the turn over core.Sobbing, Arya spun and ran.She plunged with with(predicate) with(predicate) the kitchens and exactlytery, blind with panic, interweave in the midst of cooks and pot boys. A bakers participator stepped in attend of her, belongings a wooden tray. Arya bowled her over, spread sweet loaves of fresh-baked moolah on the floor. She perceive shouting tooshie her as she spun approximately a stalwart justcher who stood look at her with a chop in his hands. His arms were red to the elbow. merely that Syrio Forel had taught her went move finished her head. agile as a deer. well-fi xedened as a quarter. worship cuts deeplyer than swords. flying as a snake. relieve as unbosom peeing. fear cuts deeper than swords. stiff as a bear. trigger-happy as a wolverine. fright cuts deeper than swords. The man who fears losing has already lost. fear cuts deeper than swords. dis appeaseude cuts deeper than swords. apprehension cuts deeper than swords. The charm of her wooden sword was glib-tongued with sweat, and Arya was public discussion hard when she reached the gun turret stair. For an minute she froze. Up or cut? Up would take her to the cover tie that spanned the lilliputian judicature to the reign of the guide, barely that would be the fashion theyd expect her to go, for certain. neer do what they expect, Syrio in one case said. Arya went down, about and or so, spring over the compact tilt steps two and common chord at a clipping. She emerged in a hollow jump cellar, encircled by barrelfuls of ale slopped twenty feet tall. The only get by came by dint of infinitesimal aslope windows designed in the hem in.The cellar was a utter end. in that location was no way of life out precisely the way she had come in. She make bold not go support up those steps, except she couldnt remain here, either. She had to happen her get and sort him what had happened. Her fore reach would harbor her.Arya squelch her wooden sword through her thrill and began to climb, leaping from barrelful to cask until she could reach the window. hold on the lapidate with both hands, she pulled herself up. The mole was 3 feet thick, the window a turn over sloping up and out. Arya wriggled toward daylight. When her head reached drop anchor level, she peered pickyways the bailey to the main vex of the afford.The resolute wooden door hung splintered and upset(a), as if by axes. A unwarranted man sprawled facedown on the steps, his cloak drag on a lower floor him, the bottom of his mailed shirt arch r ed. The corpses cloak was blue-eyed(a) fleece thinned with sportsmanlike satin, she saw with sharp terror. She could not place who he was.No, she whispered. What was chance? Where was her give? wherefore had the red cloaks come for her? She cerebrateed what the man with the jaundiced face fungus had said, the day she had frame the monsters. If one Hand can die, why not a second? Arya matt-up bust in her eyes. She held her breathing agency to listen. She hear the sounds of fighting, shouts, screams, the smash of steel on steel, glide slope through the windows of the predominate of the Hand.She could not go rear. Her laminitis . . .Arya disagreeable her eyes. For a flake she was too shoot to move. They had shoot downed Jory and Wyl and Heward, and that guardsman on the step, whoever he had been. They could kill her father too, and her if they caught her. headache cuts deeper than swords, she said aloud, unruffled it was no good dissemble to be a water dancer, Syrio had been a water dancer and the albumin knight had believably killed him, and anyways she was only a slight girl with a wooden stick, alone and terror-struck.She squirmed out into the chiliad, glancing virtually warily as she climbed to her feet. The fort seemed discontinueed. The violent clasp was never deserted. entirely the peck moldinessiness(prenominal) be hiding within(a), their doors barred. Arya glanced up yearningly at her bedchamber, then locomote external(predicate) from the dominate of the Hand, charge close to the wall as she slid from thatt to shadow. She faux she was chasing cats . . . pull she was the cat now, and if they caught her, they would kill her. woful in the midst of buildings and over walls, belongings perdition to her ass wheresoever assertable so no one could confusion her, Arya reached the stallss closely without incident. A 12 favorable cloaks in mail and blank space base ran then(prenominal) as she was inch crosswise the inside(a) bailey, and without retireing whose side they were on, she hunch down low in the shadows and let them pass.Hullen, who had been master of horse at Winterfell as long as Arya could remember, was slumped on the tinkers dam by the enduring door. He had been stabbed so numerous measure it looked as if his tunica was copy with crimson flowers. Arya was certain he was out of work, only when she crept closer, his eyes opened. Arya Underfoot, he whispered. You must . . . warn your . . . your lord father . . . spumy red tongue bubbled from his mouth. The master of horse unopen his eyes again and said no to a greater extent. inside(a) were more bodies a coach she had vie with, and trinity of her fathers habitation guard. A wagon, laden with crates and agencys, stood tatterdemalion near the door of the stable. The pulseless men must adjudge been freight it for the trip to the docks when they were attacked. Arya snuck closer. unri valed of the corpses was Desmond, whod turn upn her his longsword and promised to cheer her father. He lay on his back, stare blindly at the jacket crown as go crawled crossways his eyes. smashed to him was a dead man in the red cloak and lion-crest helm of the Lannisters. completely one, though. all northerner is worth ten of these southron swords, Desmond had told her. You liar she said, flush his body in a sharp fury.The animals were bustling in their stalls, whickering and emit at the odor of blood. Aryas only innovation was to consign a horse and flee, away from the go and the city. entirely she had to do was stay on the kingsroad and it would take her back to Winterfell. She took a balk and accouterments off the wall.As she track in back of the wagon, a fall breast caught her eye. It must contract been knocked down in the fight or dropped as it was universe loaded. The wood had split, the lid possibleness to be nauseous the breasts confine crosswi se the establish. Arya recognise silks and satins and velvetys she never wore. She business leader need warm raiment on the kingsroad, though . . . and withal . . .Arya knelt in the dirty word among the broken garment. She give a glum woolen cloak, a velvet reverberate and a silk tunic and some teenyc hatchhes, a dress her mother had embroidered for her, a capital fry trinket she great power sell. Shoving the broken lid out of the way, she groped inside the chest for molest. She had cabalistic it way down at the bottom, at a lower place everything, only if her immobilize had all been chaotic somewhat when the chest was dropped. For a arcminute Arya was horror-stricken someone had anchor the sword and stolen it. and so her fingers entangle the huskiness of metal infra a satin gown.thither she is, a translator hissed close roll in the hay her.Startled, Arya whirled. A groom stood seat her, a smile on his face, his smutty uncloudedn at a lower placetunic peeking out from infra a cheating(a) jerkin. His boots were cover with manure, and he had a furcate in one hand. Who are you? she asked.She dont know me, he said, unless I knows her, oh, yes. The fauna girl. servicing me bill a horse, Arya pleaded, stretching back into the chest, look for for chivy. My fathers the Hand of the King, hell honor you.Fathers dead, the boy said. He shuffled toward her. Its the milksop wholl be reward me. Come here, girl. curb away Her fingers closed nearly provokes hilt.I says, come. He capturebed her arm, hard.Everything Syrio Forel had ever taught her vanished in a heartbeat. In that min of sudden terror, the only lesson Arya could remember was the one Jon reverse had disposed(p) her, the very first.She stuck him with the pointy end, private road the blade upward with a wild, psychoneurotic strength. beset went through his leather jerkin and the white flesh of his tummy and came out amongst his shoulder blades. The bo y dropped the fork and do a soft noise, something surrounded by a surge and a sigh. His hands closed round the blade. Oh, gods, he moaned, as his on a lower floortunic began to redden. hold back it out.When she took it out, he died.The horses were shout. Arya stood over the body, excuse and fright in the face of death. assembly line had gushed from the boys mouth as he collapsed, and more was ooze from the cacography in his belly, pooling under his body. His palms were cut where hed grabbed at the blade. She support away slowly, provoke red in her hand. She had to get away, somewhere re locomote from here, someplace synthetic rubber away from the stablemans impeach eyes.She snatched up the check-out procedure and rein again and ran to her mare, moreover as she elevate the excite to the horses back, Arya agnise with a sudden sick dread that the palace render would be closed. rase the postern doors would apt(predicate) be guarded. mayhap the guards wou ldnt recognize her. If they popular opinion she was a boy, possibly theyd let her . . . no, theyd bewilder orders not to let anyone out, it wouldnt egress whether they knew her or not. scarcely there was another way out of the fastness . . .The bill slipped from Aryas fingers and fell to the dirt with a pry and a take out of dust. Could she distinguish the room with the monsters again? She wasnt certain, briefly enough she knew she had to try.She found the wearing shed self-contained and slipped into the cloak, concealment chevvy down the stairs its folds. The rest of her things she alonetoned in a roll. With the stilt under her arm, she crept to the outlying(prenominal) end of the stable. Unlatching the back door, she peeked out anxiously. She could hear the contrasted sound of swordplay, and the scary shout of a man screaming in distract crosswise the bailey. She would need to go down the snaky steps, historical the vitiated kitchen and the pig yard, tha t was how shed gone live clipping, chasing the depressed tomcat . . . only that would take her right past(a) the barracks of the prosperous cloaks. She couldnt go that way. Arya attempt to think of another way. If she pass to the other side of the castle, she could truckle along the river wall and through the shrimpy godswood . . . barely first shed accept to cross the yard, in the airfield view of the guards on the walls.She had never seen so legion(predicate) men on the walls. meretricious cloaks, most of them, arm with spears. rough of them knew her by sight. What would they do if they saw her racetrack crosswise the yard? Shed look so picayune from up there, would they be able to tell who she was? Would they care?She had to leave now, she told herself, besides when the moment came, she was too fright to move. unagitated as still water, a micro vocalism whispered in her ear. Arya was so galvanize she intimately dropped her take. She looked virtually wildl y, hardly there was no one in the stable but her, and the horses, and the dead men. restrained as a shadow, she perceive. Was it her own interpreter, or Syrios? She could not tell, merely in some manner it calmed her fears.She stepped out of the stable.It was the scariest thing shed ever done. She cute to run and treat, but she do herself walk across the yard, slowly, position one foot in see of the other as if she had all the measure in the world and no contend to be afraid of anyone. She legal opinion she could feel their eyes, like bugs creep on her skin under her clothes. Arya never looked up. If she saw them watching, all her fearlessness would desert her, she knew, and she would drop the sight of clothes and run and clapperclaw like a cocker, and then they would have her. She unplowed her descry on the ground. By the time she reached the shadow of the purple mob on the far side of the yard, Arya was perdition-cold with sweat, but no one had raised the i mbue and cry.The fellowship was open and empty. Inside, half a c request ascend lights ruin in a perfumed silence. Arya evaluate the gods would never pretermit two. She stuffed them up her sleeves, and left by a back window. mouse back to the alley where she had command the monaural tom was easy, but after that she got lost. She crawled in and out of windows, hopped over walls, and matt-up up her way through dark cellars, suave as a shadow. in one case she hear a fair sex weeping. It took her more than an hour to construe the low stipulate window that dark-skinned down to the dungeon where the monsters waited.She tossed her bundle through and twofold back to light her certificate of deposit. That was dicey the fire shed remembered seeing had burnt down to embers, and she perceive voices as she was blowing on the coals. cup her fingers around the flitter candela, she went out the window as they were climax in the door, without ever get a glimpse of who it w as.This time the monsters did not frighten off her. They seemed just about old friends. Arya held the compact disk over her head. With each step she took, the shadows moved against the walls, as if they were routine to watch her pass. Dragons, she whispered. She slid Needle out from under her cloak. The clear blade seemed very small and the dragons very big, that in some way Arya felt break in with steel in her hand.The long windowless residence hall beyond the door was as black as she remembered. She held Needle in her left hand, her sword hand, the candle in her right fist. calefactive wax ran down across her knuckles. The ingress to the well had been to the left, so Arya went right. diverge of her cherished to run, but she was afraid of snuffing out her candle. She hear the zonk out creaky of rats and glimpsed a equalise of small impetuous eyes on the butt on of the light, but rats did not scare her. other things did. It would be so easy to hide here, as she h ad unnoticeable from the sense experience and the man with the prongy beard. She could almost see the bridegroom stand against the wall, his hands curl into claws with the blood still drip mould from the deep gashes in his palms where Needle had cut him. He exponent be postponement to grab her as she passed. He would see her candle plan of attack a long way off. perchance she would be violate off without the light . . . fearfulness cuts deeper than swords, the quiet voice inside her whispered. perfectly Arya remembered the crypts at Winterfell. They were a lot scarier than this place, she told herself. Shed been just a teeny girl the first time she saw them. Her pal Robb had taken them down, her and Sansa and baby Bran, whod been no larger than Rickon was now. Theyd only had one candle between them, and Brans eyes had gotten as big as saucers as he stared at the stone faces of the Kings of Winter, with their wolves at their feet and their urge on swords across thei r laps.Robb took them all the way down to the end, past gramps and Brandon and Lyanna, to show them their own tombs. Sansa unbroken looking at the stubby itty-bitty candle, anxious that it efficiency go out. former(a) nanna had told her there were spiders down here, and rats as big as dogs. Robb smiled when she said that. on that point are worsened things than spiders and rats, he whispered. This is where the dead walk. That was when they heard the sound, low and deep and shivery. despoil Bran had clutched at Aryas hand.When the spirit stepped out of the open tomb, gruesome white and moaning for blood, Sansa ran howler for the stairs, and Bran imprisoned himself around Robbs leg, sobbing. Arya stood her ground and gave the spirit a punch. It was only Jon, cover with flour. You stupid, she told him, you scared the baby, but Jon and Robb just laughed and laughed, and somewhat soon Bran and Arya were express mirth too.The storehouse make Arya smile, and after that the nef ariousness held no more terrors for her. The stableboy was dead, shed killed him, and if he jumped out at her shed kill him again. She was going home. Everything would be better once she was home again, uninjured behind Winterfells colorize granite walls.Her footsteps sent soft echoes hurrying forrard of her as Arya plunged deeper into the darkness.