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He asked her about the man Bronn had taken her fronificant lordling "You need not fear his like, ers busy at his cock "He is a small man"
"And what aiant?"
"Oh, yes," she purred, "iant of Lannister" She mounted him then, and for a time, she al
and woke in darkness to the blare of tru him by the shoulder "M’lord," she whispered "Wake up, y, he sat up and threw back the blanket The horns called through the night, wild and urgent, a cry that said hurry hurry hurry He heard shouts, the clatter of spears, the whicker of horses, though nothing yet that spoke to hi "My lord father’s truht Stark was yet a day’s march away"
Shae shook her head, lost Her eyes ide and white
Groaning, Tyrion lurched to his feet and pushed his way outside, shouting for his squire Wisps of pale fog drifted through the night, long white fingers off the river Men and horses blundered through the predawn chill; saddles were being cinched, wagons loaded, fires extinguished The truhts vaulted onto snorting coursers while men-at-arms buckled their sword belts as they ran When he found Pod, the boy was snoring softly Tyrion gave him a sharp poke in the ribs with his toe "My ar out of thehis battered halfhelm "Do you knohat’s happened?" Tyrion asked him
"The Stark boy stole a sroad in the night, and now his host is less than aup in battle array"
Hurry, the trumpets called, hurry hurry hurry
"See that the clansmen are ready to ride" Tyrion ducked back inside his tent "Where are my clothes?" he barked at Shae "There No, the leather, da me my boots"
By the time he was dressed, his squire had laid out his armor, such that it was Tyrion owned a fine suit of heavy plate, expertly crafted to fit his misshapen body Alas, it was safe at Casterly Rock, and he was not He had to ons: reaves and gauntlets and pointed steel boots Some of it was ornate, some plain; not a bit of it matched, or fit as it should His breastplate was er reathelular spike
Shae helped Pod with the buckles and clasps "If I die, weep for me," Tyrion told the whore
"Hoill you know? You’ll be dead"
"I’ll know"
"I believe you would" Shae lowered the greathelet Tyrion buckled on his belt, heavy with the weight of shortsword and dirk By then his grooht up his mount, a formidable brown courser armored as heavily as he was He needed help to hed a thousand stone Pod handed him up his shield, a massive slab of heavy ironwood banded with steel Lastly they gave him his battle-axe Shae stepped back and looked him over "M’lord looks fearsome"
"M’lord looks a dwarf in mismatched armor," Tyrion answered sourly, "but I thank you for the kindness Podrick, should the battle go against us, see the lady safely home" He saluted her with his axe, wheeled his horse about, and trotted off His stoht it pained hian to strike his tent Pale criers fanned out to the east as the first rays of the sun broke over the horizon The western sky was a deep purple, speckled with stars Tyrion wondered whether this was the last sunrise he would ever seeand whether wondering was a mark of cowardice Did his brother Jaime ever contemplate death before a battle?
A warhorn sounded in the far distance, a deep mournful note that chilled the soul The clans curses and rude jokes Several appeared to be drunk The rising sun was burning off the drifting tendrils of fog as Tyrion led therass the horses had left was heavy with dew, as if so of diamonds over the earth The mountain men fell in behind him, each clan arrayed behind its own leaders
In the dawn light, the army of Lord Tywin Lannister unfolded like an iron rose, thorns glea
His uncle would lead the center Ser Kevan had raised his standards above the kingsroad Quivers hanging from their belts, the foot archers arrayed the lines, to east and west of the road, and stood cal their bows Between them, pikemen formed squares; behind were rank on rank of men-at-arms with spear and sword and axe Three hundred heavy horse surrounded Ser Kevan and the lords bannermen Lefford, Lydden, and Serrett with all their sworn retainers
The right as all cavalry, soht of their arhts were there, reat steel fist Ser Addam Marbrand had the command Tyrion saw his banner unfurl as his standardbearer shook it out; a burning tree, orange and smoke Behind him flew Ser Flement’s purple unicorn, the brindled boar of Crakehall, the bantam rooster of Swyft, and more
His lord father took his place on the hill where he had slept Around hie force, halfLord Tywin almost always chose to coround and watch the battle unfold below hi his forces when and where they were needed most
Even from afar, his lord father was resplendent Tywin Lannister’s battle arreatcloak was sewn froold, so heavy that it barely stirred even when he charged, so large that its drape covered most of his stallion’s hindquarters when he took the saddle No ordinary clasp would suffice for such a weight, so the greatcloak was held in place by aon his shoulders, as if poised to spring Their nificentthe air as he roared All three lions rought in gold, with ruby eyes His arreaves and gauntlets inlaid with ornate gold scrollwork His rondels were golden sunbursts, all his fastenings were gilded, and the red steel was burnished to such a high sheen that it shone like fire in the light of the rising sun
Tyrion could hear the rumble of the foemen’s drums now He remembered Robb Stark as he had last seen hih seat in the Great Hall of Winterfell, a sword naked and shining in his hands He remembered how the direwolves had come at hiain, snarling and snapping, teeth bared in his face Would the boy bring his wolves to ith hiht made him uneasy
The northerners would be exhausted after their long sleeplessDid he think to take them unawares while they slept? Sht be said of him, Tywin Lannister was noon the left He saw the standard first, three black dogs on a yellow field Ser Gregor sat beneath it, est horse Tyrion had ever seen Bronn took one look at hi man into battle"
Tyrion threw him a hard look "And why is that?"
"They ets That one, he’ll draw the eyes of every bowarded the Mountain with fresh eyes "I confess, I had not considered it in that light"
Clegane had no splendor about hirey, scarred by hard use and showing neither sigil nor orna reatsword that Ser Gregor waved about with one hand as a lesser er "Anywhen he caught sight of Tyrion "Imp! Take the left Hold the river If you can"
The left of the left To turn their flank, the Starks would need horses that could run on water Tyrion led hiswith his axe "The river" A blanket of pale reen current swirling past underneath The shalloere muddy and choked with reeds "That river is ours Whatever happens, keep close to the water Never lose sight of it Let no enemy come between us and our river If they dirty our waters, hack off their cocks and feed thea had an axe in either hand He s "Halfman!" he shouted Other Stone Crows picked up the cry, and the Black Ears and Moon Brothers as well The Burned Men did not shout, but they rattled their swords and spears "Halfman! Halfman! Halfman!"
Tyrion turned his courser in a circle to look over the field The ground was rolling and uneven here; soft and sroad, stony and broken beyond it, to the cast A few trees spotted the hillsides, but most of the land had been cleared and planted His heart pounded in his chest in time to the drums, and under his layers of leather and steel his broas cold with sweat He watched Ser Gregor as the Mountain rode up and down the line, shouting and gesticulating This wing too was all cavalry, but where the right was a uard was s of the west:mass of undisciplined freeriders and sellswords, fieldhands on plow horses armed with scythes and their fathers’ rusted swords, half-trained boys from the stews of Lannisportand Tyrion and his mountain clansiving voice to what Tyrion had left unsaid He could only nod Had his lord father taken leave of his senses? No pikes, too fehts, the ill-ar brute who led with his ragehow could his father expect this travesty of a battle to hold his left?
He had no time to think about it The drums were so near that the beat crept under his skin and set his hands to twitching Bronn drew his longsword, and suddenly the ene over the tops of the hills, advancing with measured tread behind a wall of shields and pikes
Gods be dah he knew his father had more men on the field Their captains led theside with their banners He glimpsed the bull moose of the Hornwoods, the Karstark sunburst, Lord Cerwyn’s battle-axe, and the mailed fist of the Gloversand the twin towers of Frey, blue on grey So much for his father’s certainty that Lord Walder would not bestir hirey direwolves see to run and leap as the banners swirled and streah staffs Where is the boy? Tyrion wondered
A warhorn blew Haroooooooooooooooooooooooo, it cried, its voice as long and low and chilling as a cold wind from the north The Lannister trumpets answered, da-DA da-DA da-DAAAAAAAAA, brazen and defiant, yet it seemed to Tyrion that they sounded so in his bowels, a queasy liquid feeling; he hoped he was not going to die sick
As the horns died away, a hissing filled the air; a vast flight of arrows arched up fro the road The northerners broke into a run, shouting as they came, but the Lannister arrows fell on them like hail, hundreds of arrows, thousands, and shouts turned to screaht was in the air, and the archers were fitting a third arrow to their bowstrings
The truain, da-DAAA da-DAAA da-DA da-DA da-DAAAAAAA Ser Gregor waved his huge sword and bellowed a command, and a thousand other voices screamed back at him Tyrion put his spurs to his horse and added one ed forward "The river!" he shouted at his clansmen as they rode "Re when they broke a canter, until Chella gave a bloodcurdling shriek and galloped past hied after the Tyrion in their dust
A crescent of ene with steel, waiting behind tall oaken shields ane was the first to reach thee of armored veterans Half the horses shied at the last second, breaking their charge before the row of spears The others died, sharp steel points ripping through their chests Tyrion saw a dozenout with iron-shod hooves as a barbed spearhead raked across his neck Maddened, the beast lunged into the ranks Spears thrust at hiht The northerners stumbled away fro blood and biting with his last red breath, the Mountain rose untouched, laying about hia went bursting through the gap before the shields could close, other Stone Crows hard behind him Tyrion shouted, "Burned Men! Moon Brothers! After limpsed Timett son of Timett vault free as his mount died under him in full stride, saw a Moon Brother impaled on a Karstark spear, watched Conn’s horse shatter a ht of arrows descended on them; where they came from he could not say, but they fell on Stark and Lannister alike, rattling off ar flesh Tyrion lifted his shield and hid beneath it
The hedgehog was cru back under the ia catch a spearman full in the chest as the fool cah s The ed in his breast, yet Shagga rode on, cleaving a shield in tith his left-hand battle-axe while the corpse was bouncing and stuht Finally the dead ether and roared
By then the enemy was on hiround around his horse A man-at-ar the spear aside The man danced back for another try, but Tyrion spurred his horse and rode right over him Bronn was surrounded by three foes, but he lopped the head off the first spear that came at him, and raked his blade across a second man’s face on his backslash
A thrown spear caed in his shield with a woody chunk He wheeled and raced after the thrower, but the man raised his own shield over his head Tyrion circled around hi axe blon on the wood Chips of oak went flying, until the northerner lost his feet and slipped, failing flat on his back with his shield on top of him He was below the reach of Tyrion’s axe and it was too much bother to dis hi downcut that sent a jolt of i up, he looked for the river There it was, off to the right Sootten turned around
A Burned Man rode past, sluainst his horse A spear had entered his belly and coh his back He was past any help, but when Tyrion saw one of the northerners run up and ed
His quarrychainauntlets of lobstered steel, but he’d lost his helash across his forehead Tyrion aimed a swipe at his face, but the tall man slammed it aside "Dwarf," he screamed "Die" He turned in a circle as Tyrion rode around hi on steel, and Tyrion soon realized that the tall er than he was Where in the seven hells was Bronn? "Die," the ot his shield up in time, and the wood seemed to explode inward under the force of the blow The shattered pieces fell away fro in close and whanging Tyrion across the te sound as he drew it back over the steel The tall rinneduntil Tyrion’s destrier bit, quick as a snake, laying his cheek bare to the bone Then he screamed Tyrion buried his axe in his head "You die," he told him, and he did
As he wrenched the blade free, he heard a shout ‘Eddard!" a voice rang out "For Eddard and Winterfell!" The knight ca the spiked ball of a ether before Tyrion could so ht elbow exploded with pain as the spikes punched through the thin one, as fast as that He clawed for his sword, but theat his face A sickening crunch, and he was falling He did not recall hitting the ground, but when he looked up there was only sky above him He rolled onto his side and tried to find his feet, but pain shuddered through hiht who had felled him drew up above him "Tyrion the Imp," he boomed down "You are ht, but the word caught in his throat He ht his way to his knees, fu
"Do you yield?" The knight loomed overhead on his armored warhorse Man and horse both see in a lazy circle Tyrion’s hands were numb, his vision blurred, his scabbard e faster and faster
Tyrion lurched to his feet, driving his head into the horse’s belly The aniave a hideous screaony, a shower of blood and viscera poured down over Tyrion’s face, and the horse fell like an avalanche The next he knew, his visor was packed with led free, his throat so tight he could scarce talk "yield" he ed to croak faintly
"Yes," a voice moaned, thick with pain
Tyrion scraped the ain The horse had fallen away fro was trapped, the arle "Yield," he repeated Fuood hand, he dreord and flung it at Tyrion’s feet "I yield, my lord"
Dazed, the dwarf knelt and lifted the blade Pain hah his elbohen he moved his arm The battle seemed to have moved beyond hie nu to feed He saw that Ser Kevan had brought up his center in support of the van; his huge ainst the hills They were struggling on the slopes, pikes thrusting against another wall of shields, these oval and reinforced with iron studs As he watched, the air filled with arrows again, and the men behind the oak wall cru, ser," he told the knight under the horse Theup behind hih he could scarcely lift the sword he held for the agony in his elbow Brorm reined up and looked down on him
"Small use you turned out to be," Tyrion told hih on your own," Bronn answered "You’ve lost the spike off your helreathelm The spike had snapped off clean "I haven’t lost it I know just where it is Do you see my horse?"
By the tiain and Lord Tywin’s reserve ca the river Tyrion watched his father fly past, the cri over his head as he thundered across the field Five hundred knights surrounded hi off the points of their lances The relass beneath the hae
With his elboollen and throbbing inside his arhter He and Bronn went looking for histhe dead Ulf son of Uone at the elbow, a dozen of his Moon Brothers sprawled around hia was slumped beneath a tree, riddled with arrows, Conn’s head in his lap Tyrion thought they were both dead, but as he disa opened his eyes and said, "They have killed Conn son of Coratt" Handsome Conn had no mark but for the red stain over his breast, where the spear thrust had killed hi man seemed to notice the arrows for the first ti the holes they hadlike a babe at the few that had buried thehter of Cheyk rode up as they were yanking arrows out of Shagga, and showed the the bodies of the slain with his Burned Men Of the three hundred clansmen who had ridden to battle behind Tyrion Lannister, perhaps half had survived
He left the living to look after the dead, sent Bronn to take charge of his captive knight, and went alone in search of his father Lord Tyas seated by the river, sipping wine fros on his breastplate "A fine victory," Ser Kevan said when he saw Tyrion "Your wild ht well"
His father’s eyes were on hiave Tyrion a chill "Did that surprise you, Father?" he asked "Did it upset your plans? We were supposed to be butchered, e not?"
Lord Tywin drained his cup, his face expressionless "I put the least disciplined men on the left, yes I anticipated that they would break Robb Stark is a green boy, more like to be brave than wise I’d hoped that if he saw our left collapse, he er for a rout Once he was fully committed, Ser Kevan’s pikes would wheel and take hiht up the reserve"
"And you thought it best to place norant of your plans"
"A feigned rout is less convincing," his father said, "and I am not inclined to trust es"
"A pity auntlet and let it fall to the ground, wincing at the pain that stabbed up his arm
"The Stark boy proved more cautious than I expected for one of his years," Lord Tywin admitted, "but a victory is a victory You appear to be wounded"
Tyrion’s right arm was soaked with blood "Good of you to notice, Father," he said through clenched teeth "Might I trouble you to send for youra one-arent shout of "Lord Tywin!" turned his father’s head before he could reply Tywin Lannister rose to his feet as Ser Addam Marbrand leapt down off his courser The horse was lathered and bleeding froy man with dark copper hair that fell to his shoulders, armored in burnished bronzed steel with the fiery tree of his House etched black on his breastplate "My liege, we have taken some of their commanders Lord Cerwyn, Ser Wylis Manderly, Harrion Karstark, four Freys Lord Hornwood is dead, and I fear Roose Bolton has escaped us"
"And the boy?" Lord Tywin asked
Ser Addam hesitated "The Stark boy was not with thereat part of his horse, riding hard for Riverrun"
A green boy, Tyrion rehed, if he hadn’t hurt so much