Catelyn watched a breeze stir his auburn hair, so like her own, and wondered when her son had grown so big. Fifteen, and near as tall as she was.
微風吹動他的棗紅頭發,那頭和自己一模一樣的紅發,她不禁訝異兒子何時長得這么高大。才十五歲呢,已經快跟她一般高了。
Let him grow taller, she asked the gods. Let him know sixteen, and twenty, and fifty. Let him grow as tall as his father, and hold his own son in his arms. Please, please, please. As she watched him, this tall young man with the new beard and the direwolf prowling at his heels, all she could see was the babe they had laid at her breast at Riverrun, so long ago.
請讓他長得更高,她祈求天上諸神,讓他活過十六歲、二十歲、五十歲,讓他變得和他父親一樣高大,讓他有機會把兒子抱在懷中,求求你們,求求你們,求求你們。她看著面前這個留了新胡子,腳邊跟了一條冰原狼的高大青年,眼中所見卻是那個他們放在她懷中的小嬰兒。那是好久好久以前,發生在奔流城的事了。
The night was warm, but the thought of Riverrun was enough to make her shiver. Where are they? she wondered. Could her uncle have been wrong? So much rested on the truth of what he had told them. Robb had given the Blackfish three hundred picked men, and sent them ahead to screen his march. "Jaime does not know," Sir Brynden said when he rode back. "I'll stake my life on that. No bird has reached him, my archers have seen to that. We've seen a few of his outriders, but those that saw us did not live to tell of it. He ought to have sent out more. He does not know."
夜空雖暖,想到奔流城卻令她打起冷顫。他們究竟在哪里?她納悶。莫非叔叔出錯了?一切的一切,都維系在他的承諾上。羅柏撥給黑魚三百精兵,派他趨前掩護主力部隊的行蹤。“詹姆不知情,”布林登爵士回來報告,“我敢拿性命擔保。我的弓箭手沒讓任何一只鳥飛回他那里。我們遇到了幾個他的斥候,那些人也都無法回去通報了。他應該派出更多人才對。總而言之,他不清楚我們的行蹤。”
How large is his host? her son asked.
“他的部隊規模如何?”兒子問。
Twelve thousand foot, scattered around the castle in three separate camps, with the rivers between, her uncle said, with the craggy smile she remembered so well.
“總共一萬兩千步兵,分居三處營地,散于城堡周圍,彼此間有河水相隔。”叔叔邊說邊露出一抹粗獷的微笑,令她覺得好熟悉。