The Sworn Sword

The good septon has been scolding me"". She gazed across the water at Ser Eustace. ""I scarce remember Addam any longer. It was more than half my life ago. I remember that I loved him, though. I have not loved any of the others"".

""His father put him in the blackberries, with his brothers"", Dunk said. ""He was fond of blackberries"".

""I remember. He used to pick them for me, and we'd eat them in a bowl of cream"".

""The king pardoned the old man for Daemon"", said Dunk. ""It is past time you pardoned him for Addam"".

""Give me Bennis, and I'll consider that"".

""Bennis is not mine to give"".

She sighed. ""I would as lief not have to kill you"".

""I would as lief not die"".

""Then give me Bennis. We'll cut his nose off and hand him back, and that will be the end of that"".

""It won't, though"", Dunk said. ""There's still the dam to deal with, and the fire. Will you give us the men who set it?""

""There were lantern bugs in that wood"", she said. ""It may be they set the fire off, with their little lanterns"".

""No more teasing now, m'lady"", Dunk warned her. ""This is no time for it. Tear down the dam, and let Ser Eustace have the water to make up for the wood. That's fair, is it not?""

""It might be, if I had burned the wood. Which I did not. I was at Coldmoat, safe abed"". She looked down at the water. ""What is there to prevent us from riding right across the stream? Have you scattered caltrops amongst the rocks? Hidden archers in the ashes? Tell me what you think is going to stop us"".

""Me"". He pulled one gauntlet off. ""In Flea Bottom I was always bigger and stronger than the other boys, so I used to beat them bloody and steal from them. The old man taught me not to do that. It was wrong, he said, and besides, sometimes little boys have great big brothers. Here, have a look at this"". Dunk twisted the ring off his finger and held it out to her. She had to let loose of her braid to take it.

""Gold?"" she said, when she felt the weight of it. ""What is this, ser?"" She turned it over in her hand. ""A signet. Gold and onyx"". Her green eyes narrowed as she studied the seal. ""Where did you find this, ser?""

""In a boot. Wrapped in rags and stuffed up in the toe"".

Lady Rohanne's fingers closed around it. She glanced at Egg and old Ser Eustace. ""You took a great risk in showing me this ring, ser. But how does it avail us? If I should command my men to cross.. "".

""Well"", said Dunk, ""that would mean I'd have to fight"".

""And die"".

""Most like"", he said, ""and then Egg would go back where he comes from, and tell what happened here"".

""Not if he died as well""."

"""I don't think you'd kill a boy of ten"", he said, hoping he was right. ""Not this boy of ten, you wouldn't. You've got three-and-thirty men there, like you said. Men talk. That fat one there especially. No matter how deep you dug the graves, the tale would out. And then, well… might be a spotted spider's bite can kill a lion, but a dragon is a different sort of beast"".

""I would sooner be the dragon's friend"". She tried the ring on her finger. It was too big even for her thumb. ""Dragon or no, I must have Bennis of the Brown Shield"".

""No"".

""You are seven feet of stubborn"".

""Less an inch"".

She gave him back the ring. ""I cannot return to Coldmoat empty-handed. They will say the Red Widow has lost her bite, that she was too weak to do justice, that she could not protect her smallfolk. You do not understand, ser"".

""I might"". Better than you know. ""I remember once some little lord in the stormlands took Ser Arlan into service, to help him fight some other little lord. When I asked the old man what they were fighting over, he said, ‘Nothing, lad. It's just some pissing contest.' ""

Lady Rohanne gave him a shocked look, but could sustain it no more than half a heartbeat before it turned into a grin. ""I have heard a thousand empty courtesies in my time, but you are the first knight who ever said pissing in my presence"". Her freckled face went somber. ""Those pissing contests are how lords judge one another's strength, and woe to any man who shows his weakness. A woman must needs piss twice as hard, if she hopes to rule. And if that woman should happen to be small … Lord Stackhouse covets my Horseshoe Hills, Ser Clifford Conklyn has an old claim to Leafy Lake, those dismal Durwells live by stealing cattle… and beneath mine own roof I have the Longinch. Every day I wake wondering if this might be the day he marries me by force"". Her hand curled tight around her braid, as hard as if it were a rope, and she was dangling over a precipice. ""He wants to, I know. He holds back for fear of my wroth, just as Conklyn and Stackhouse and the Durwells tread carefully where the Red Widow is concerned. If any of them thought for a moment that I had turned weak and soft.. "".

Dunk put the ring back on his finger, and drew his dagger.

The widow's eyes went wide at the sight of naked steel.