The Sworn Sword — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

Besides, he is prettier than I am. And you, septon, have the biggest mouth in Westeros"".

""A large belly requires a large mouth"", said Septon Sefton, utterly unabashed. ""Else it soon becomes a small one"".

""Are you the Red Widow?"" Egg asked, astonished. ""I'm near as tall as you are!""

""Another boy made that same observation not half a year ago. I sent him to the rack to make him taller"". When Lady Rohanne settled onto the high seat on the dais, she pulled her braid forward over her left shoulder. It was so long that the end of it lay coiled in her lap, like a sleeping cat.

""Ser Duncan, I should not have teased you in the yard, when you were trying so hard to be gracious. It was only that you blushed so red… was there no girl to tease you, in the village where you grew so tall?""

""The village was King's Landing"". He did not mention Flea Bottom. ""There were girls, but.. "". The sort of teasing that went on in Flea Bottom sometimes involved cutting off a toe.

""I expect they were afraid to tease you"".

Lady Rohanne stroked her braid. ""No doubt they were frightened of your size. Do not think ill of Lady Helicent, I pray you. My good-sister is a simple creature, but she has no harm in her. For all her piety, she could not dress herself without her septas"".

""It was not her doing. The mistake was mine"".

""You lie most gallantly. I know it was Ser Lucas. He is a man of cruel humors, and you offended him on sight"".

""How?"" Dunk said, puzzled. ""I never did him any harm"".

She smiled a smile that made him wish she were plainer.

""I saw you standing with him. You're taller by a hand, or near enough. It has been a long while since Ser Lucas met anyone he could not look down on. How old are you, ser?""

""Near twenty, if it please m'lady"". Dunk liked the ring of twenty, though most like he was a year younger, maybe two. No one knew for certain, least of all him. He must have had a mother and a father like everybody else, but he'd never known them, not even their names, and no one in Flea Bottom had ever cared much when he'd been born, or to whom.

""Are you as strong as you appear?""

""How strong do I appear, m'lady?"""

"""Oh, strong enough to annoy Ser Lucas. He is my castellan, though not by choice. Like Coldmoat, he is a legacy of my father. Did you come to knighthood on some battlefield, Ser Duncan? Your speech suggests that you were not born of noble blood, if you will forgive my saying so"".

I was born of gutter blood.