The Sworn Sword — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

Dunk had to remind himself of why Ser Eustace had sent him here. ""My sword is sworn to my lord of Osgrey, m'lady"", he said, ""and that's the way it is"".

""So be it, ser. Let us speak of less pleasant matters"". Lady Rohanne gave her braid a tug. ""We do not suffer attacks on Coldmoat or its people. So tell me why I should not have you sewn in a sack"".

""I came to parlay"", he reminded her, ""and I have drunk your wine"". The taste still lingered in his mouth, rich and sweet. So far it had not poisoned him.

Perhaps it was the wine that made him bold. ""And you don't have a sack big enough for me"".

To his relief, Egg's jape made her smile. ""I have several that are big enough for Bennis, though. Maester Cerrick says Wolmer's face was sliced open almost to the bone"".

""Ser Bennis lost his temper with the man, m'lady. Ser Eustace sent me here to pay the blood price"".

""The blood price?"" She laughed. ""He is an old man, I know, but I had not realized that he was so old as that. Does he think we are living in the Age of Heroes, when a man's life was reckoned to be worth no more than a sack of silver?""

""The digger was not killed, m'lady"", Dunk reminded her.

""No one was killed that I saw. His face was cut, is all"".

Her fingers danced idly along her braid. ""How much does Ser Eustace reckon Wolmer's cheek to be worth, pray?""

""One silver stag. And three for you, m'lady"".

""Ser Eustace sets a niggard's price upon my honor, though three silvers are better than three chickens, I grant you.

He would do better to deliver Bennis up to me for chastisement"".

""Would this involve that sack you mentioned?""

""It might"". She coiled her braid around one hand. ""Osgrey can keep his silver. Only blood can pay for blood"".

""Well"", said Dunk, ""it may be as you say, m'lady, but why not send for that man that Bennis cut, and ask him if he'd sooner have a silver stag or Bennis in a sack?""

""Oh, he'd pick the silver, if he couldn't have both. I don't doubt that, ser.

It is not his choice to make. This is about the lion and the spider now, not some peasant's cheek. It is Bennis I want, and Bennis I shall have. No one rides onto my lands, does harm to one of mine, and escapes to laugh about it""."

"""Your ladyship rode onto Standfast land, and did harm of one of Ser Eustace's"", Dunk said, before he stopped to think about it.

""Did I?"" She tugged her braid again. ""If you mean the sheep-stealer, the man was notorious.