Ⅳ 群鸦的盛宴 Chapter36 瑟曦

CERSEI

天色凄暗阴湿，一上午都在下雨，到了下午，雨虽停了，仍然乌云密布，见不到太阳。连小王后也惴惴不安，她没按惯例带身边那群小鸡、卫兵和仰慕者们出去骑马，而是整天窝在处女居内，听蓝诗人演唱。

The day had been cold and grey and wet. It had poured all morning, and even when the rain stopped that afternoon the clouds refused to part. They never saw the sun. Such wretched weather was enough to discourage even the little queen. Instead of riding with her hens and their retinue of guardsmen and admirers, she spent all day in the Maidenvault with her hens, listening to the Blue Bard sing.

瑟曦的心情也不愉快——黄昏时分才大为改观。当灰色的天空凝聚为漆黑，甜美瑟曦号随晚潮入港，奥雷恩·维水求见。

Cersei’s own day was little better, till evenfall. As the grey sky began to fade to black, they told her that the Sweet Cersei had come in on the evening tide, and that Aurane Waters was without, begging audience.

太后立刻召见。看到他的大步子，她心知定有好消息。“陛下，”维水露出宽阔的笑容，“龙石岛是您的了。”

The queen sent for him at once. As soon as he strode into her solar, she knew his tidings were good. “Your Grace,” he said with a broad smile, “Dragonstone is yours.”

“干得漂亮。”她握住他的手，吻了他的双颊。“托曼陛下一定会很高兴。我们也可以就此释放雷德温大人的舰队，好把铁民驱赶出盾牌列岛。”河湾地方面，一只乌鸦比一只乌鸦带来的消息糟糕，铁民似乎不满足于新近攻占的石头，他们集结军队，直溯曼德河，还袭击青亭岛及其周围的小岛。雷德温的领海只留下十几条战船，至今要么被夺走，要么被击沉。那个自称鸦眼攸伦的疯子甚至派长船进入低语湾，威胁旧镇。

“How splendid.” She took his hands and kissed him on the cheeks. “I know Tommen will be pleased as well. This will mean that we can release Lord Redwyne’s fleet, and drive the ironmen from the Shields.” The news from the Reach seemed to grow more dire with every raven. The ironmen had not been content with their new rocks, it seemed. They were raiding up the Mander in strength, and had gone so far as to attack the Arbor and the smaller islands that surrounded it. The Redwynes had kept no more than a dozen warships in their home waters, and all those had been overwhelmed, taken, or sunk. And now there were reports that this madman who called himself Euron Crow’s Eye was even sending longships up Whispering Sound toward Oldtown.

“甜美瑟曦号起航时，雷德温大人正储存物资，准备回师。”维水大人报告，“不难设想，现下他的主力舰队已出海了。”

“Lord Paxter was taking on provisions for the voyage home when Sweet Cersei raised sail,” Lord Waters reported. “I would imagine that by now his main fleet has put to sea.”

“祝他们一路顺风，气候也比今天更好。”太后把维水带到窗边坐椅，并肩坐下。“咱们的洛拉斯爵士对这场胜利可有作出贡献？”

“Let us hope they enjoy a swift voyage, and better weather than today.” The queen drew Waters down into the window seat beside her. “Do we have Ser Loras to thank for this triumph?”

对方的笑容消失了，“不少人衷心钦佩他，陛下。”

His smile vanished. “Some will say so, Your Grace.”

“不少人，”她探询地望着他，“你怎么看？”

“Some?” She gave him a quizzical look. “Not you?”

“我没见过比他更勇敢的骑士，”维水道，“然而他把一场不流血的胜利变成了屠杀。一千人死亡或重伤，大部分是我们的人，陛下，不仅包括普通士兵，更有许多骑士和年轻领主，那些最优秀和最勇敢的人。”

“I never saw a braver knight,” Waters said, “but he turned what could have been a bloodless victory into a slaughter. A thousand men are dead, or near enough to make no matter. Most of them our own. And not just common men, Your Grace, but knights and young lords, the best and the bravest.”

“洛拉斯爵士本人呢？”

“And Ser Loras himself?”

“他是第一千零一个。战斗结束后，大家将他抬进城内，伤势非常严重，由于失血过多，学士们都不敢为他吸血疗伤。”

“He will make a thousand and one. They carried him inside the castle after the battle, but his wounds are grievous. He has lost so much blood that the maesters will not even leech him.”

“噢，真令人伤感。托曼一定会痛心疾首的，他十分仰慕咱们英勇的百花骑士。”

“Oh, how sad. Tommen will be heartbroken. He did so admire our gallant Knight of Flowers.”

“还有老百姓们，”她的海军上将说，“如果洛拉斯死去，全国上下的少女将泪流成河。”

“The smallfolk too,” her admiral said. “We’ll have maidens weeping into their wine all across the realm when Loras dies.”

一点没错。回想洛拉斯爵士出海那天，三千平民挤到烂泥门观看，其中四分之三是女人。太后心里十分轻蔑，她好想大声尖叫，痛骂这帮绵羊，告诉他们洛拉斯能给的只有微笑与鲜花，然而她不能——她反而宣布洛拉斯爵士是七大王国最勇敢的骑士，并微笑着目睹托曼赐予对方宝石佩剑。国王还顺势拥抱了他，这不在瑟曦计划之内，但现在已无关紧要了。反正太后表现得慷慨大方，而百花骑士已几乎一命呜呼。

He was not wrong, the queen knew. Three thousand smallfolk had crowded through the Mud Gate to see Ser Loras off the day he sailed, and three of every four were women. The sight had only served to fill her with contempt. She had wanted to scream at them that they were sheep, to tell them that all that they could ever hope to get from Loras Tyrell was a smile and a flower. Instead she had proclaimed him the boldest knight in the Seven Kingdoms, and smiled as Tommen presented him with a jeweled sword to carry into battle. The king had given him a hug as well, which had not been part of Cersei’s plans, but it made no matter now. She could afford to be generous. Loras Tyrell was dying.

“告诉我详情，”瑟曦命令，“巨细无遗，从头到尾慢慢讲。”

“Tell me,” Cersei commanded. “I want to know all of it, from the beginning to the end.”

等维水说完，房间已变得黑暗。太后点起几只蜡烛，并命多卡莎去厨房拿来面包、奶酪和一点山葵调味的煮牛肉。用餐时，她让奥雷恩把故事又说了一遍，好把细节铭记在心，反复回味。“不管怎么说，我可不忍心让别人把这噩耗带给亲爱的玛格丽，”瑟曦道，“我亲自来。”

The room had grown dark by the time that he was done. The queen lit some candles and sent Dorcas to the kitchens to bring them up some bread and cheese and a bit of boiled beef with horseradish. As they supped, she bid Aurane to tell the tale again, so she would remember all the details correctly. “I do not want our precious Margaery to hear these tidings from a stranger, after all,” she said. “I will tell her myself.”

“陛下真是太好心了。”维水笑道。一脸坏笑，太后心想。由近观之，奥雷恩实在没有雷加王子的影子。不错，他们头发类似，然而如果传说属实，里斯城里半数的妓女不也一样？雷加是个顶天立地的男子汉，眼前这位不过是会耍小聪明的孩子罢了。好在他有利用价值。

“Your Grace is kind,” said Waters with a smile. A wicked smile, the queen thought. Aurane did not resemble Prince Rhaegar as much as she had thought. He has the hair, but so do half the whores in Lys, if the tales are true. Rhaegar was a man. This is a sly boy, no more. Useful in his way, though.

玛格丽正在处女居内啜饮葡萄美酒，和三位表妹一起玩从瓦兰提斯进口的新游戏。天色虽晚，守卫们还是当即放瑟曦进入。“陛下，”太后道，“我想最好由我亲自来向你通报。奥雷恩从龙石岛回来了，他告诉我，你哥哥成了英雄。”

Margaery was in the Maidenvault, sipping wine and trying to puzzle out some new game from Volantis with her three cousins. Though the hour was late, the guards admitted Cersei at once. “Your Grace,” she began, “it is best you hear the news from me. Aurane is back from Dragonstone. Your brother is a hero.”

“我知道。”玛格丽淡淡地说，语气不带惊讶。她为什么要惊讶？从洛拉斯恳求统率大军的那晚开始，她就知道会是这个结局。然而，当瑟曦把故事和盘托出，小王后的双颊仍旧闪烁着晶莹的泪珠。“雷德温已命矿工在城堡底下挖掘隧道，但百花骑士嫌进展太慢。毫无疑问，他极为关切盾牌列岛上的子民，渴望把他们从水深火热中拯救出来。据维水大人说，接管指挥权不到半天，当史坦尼斯的代理城主拒绝了一对一决斗的提议后，你哥哥便发动总攻。攻城锤撞破城门，洛拉斯当先杀入，他骑马冲入巨龙口中，一身白衣白甲，流星锤左右挥舞，大家说他勇不可挡。”

“I always knew he was.” Margaery did not seem surprised. Why should she? She expected this, from the moment Loras begged for the command. Yet by the time Cersei had finished with her tale, tears glistened on the cheeks of the younger queen. “Redwyne had miners working to drive a tunnel underneath the castle walls, but that was too slow for the Knight of Flowers. No doubt he was thinking of your lord father’s people suffering on the Shields. Lord Waters says he ordered the assault not half a day after taking command, after Lord Stannis’s castellan refused his offer to settle the siege between them in single combat. Loras was the first one through the breach when the ram broke the castle gates. He rode straight into the dragon’s mouth, they say, all in white and swinging his morningstar about his head, slaying left and right.”

梅歌·提利尔已哭出声来。“他怎么死的？”她问，“谁杀了他？”

Megga Tyrell was sobbing openly by then. “How did he die?” she asked. “Who killed him?”

“没人杀得了他，”瑟曦道，“洛拉斯爵士中了冷箭，一箭射中大腿，一箭射穿肩膀，但他坚持奋战，浴血搏斗。后来，他又被钉头锤打碎了几根肋骨。再后来……不……不，最可怕的部分还是别说的好。”

“No one man has that honor,” said Cersei. “Ser Loras took a quarrel through the thigh and another through the shoulder, but he fought on gallantly, though the blood was streaming from him. Later he suffered a mace blow that broke some ribs. After that … but no, I would spare you the worst of it.”

“告诉我，”玛格丽说，“这是命令。”

“Tell me,” said Margaery. “I command it.”

命令？瑟曦顿了一顿，旋即决定不要破坏当前的气氛。“外城陷落后，敌军遁入内城，洛拉斯穷追不舍。他被沸油当头淋下。”

Command it? Cersei paused a moment, then decided she would let that pass. “The defenders fell back to an inner keep once the curtain wall was taken. Loras led the attack there as well. He was doused with boiling oil.”

雅兰小姐的脸色惨白犹如粉笔，她从屋子里逃了出去。

Lady Alla turned white as chalk, and ran from the room.

“维水大人亲口保证，学士们做了一切能做的治疗，但你哥哥的烧伤实在太严重。”瑟曦执起玛格丽的手，以示安慰，“他拯救了王国。”她亲吻小王后的脸颊，尝到泪水的咸味。“詹姆会把他的英雄事迹尽数收录于白典之中，歌手们会将他的名讳传唱千年。”

“The maesters are doing all they can, Lord Waters assures me, but I fear your brother is too badly burned.” Cersei took Margaery in her arms to comfort her. “He saved the realm.” When she kissed the little queen upon the cheek, she could taste the salt of her tears. “Jaime will enter all his deeds in the White Book, and the singers will sing of him for a thousand years.”

玛格丽挣脱她的拥抱，用力之猛，几乎让瑟曦摔倒。“他没死！”

Margaery wrenched free of her embrace, so violently that Cersei almost fell. “Dying is not dead,” she said.

“不，不过学士们说——”

“No, but the maesters say—”

“没死！”

“Dying is not dead!”

“我只想分担你的——”

“I only want to spare you—”

“我知道你想干什么。出去。”

“I know what you want. Get out.”

现下你总算明白小乔去世那晚，我是什么心情了吧。太后鞠了一躬，穿上贵妇人的盔甲。“亲爱的女儿，我真为你感到遗憾。我走了，请不要太过伤感。”

Now you know how I felt, the night my Joffrey died. She bowed, her face a mask of cool courtesy. “Sweet daughter. I am so sad for you. I will leave you with your grief.”

当晚，玛瑞魏斯夫人没来陪寝，瑟曦发现自己无法入睡。若泰温大人尚在人世，一定会称赞我才是他真正的继承人，凯岩城的传人，她一边想，一边听乔斯琳·史威佛在枕头对面轻声打鼾。玛格丽很快就要流下她当初为乔佛里所流的伤心泪了，梅斯·提利尔也会悲痛欲绝，、然而太后没给他丝毫兴师问罪的理由。再怎么说，她不正是把自己的荣誉托付给洛拉斯吗？半个宫廷的人都看见百花骑士跪在她面前，言辞真挚地恳求披挂上阵。

Lady Merryweather did not appear that night, and Cersei found herself too restless to sleep. If Lord Tywin could see me now, he would know he had his heir, an heir worthy of the Rock, she thought as she lay abed with Jocelyn Swyft snoring softly into the other pillow. Margaery would soon be weeping the bitter tears she should have wept for Joffrey. Mace Tyrell might weep as well, but she had given him no cause to break with her. What had she done, after all, but honor Loras with her trust? He had requested the command on bended knee whilst half her court looked on.

他死后，我会为他树立雕像，再给他一场君临城从未见过的华丽葬礼。百姓们会喜欢，托曼也会。可怜的梅斯甚至会因之而感激我。至于梅斯那可恶的母亲，诸神开眼，但愿这消息杀了她。

When he dies I must raise a statue of him somewhere, and give him a funeral such as King’s Landing has never seen. The smallfolk would like that. So would Tommen. Mace may even thank me, poor man. As for his lady mother, if the gods are good this news will kill her.

第二天日出是瑟曦多年未曾目睹的美景，坦妮娅也出现了，她声称自己昨晚一直在安慰玛格丽那帮人，与她们一起饮酒、哭泣，谈论洛拉斯。“玛格丽仍然认为哥哥没死，”太后一边听玛瑞魏斯夫人报告，一边为上朝换装，“她打算派自己的学士前去照料。她的表亲们则不停地祈祷圣母慈悲。”

The sunrise was the prettiest that Cersei had seen in years. Taena appeared soon thereafter, and confessed to having spent the night consoling Margaery and her ladies, drinking wine and crying and telling tales of Loras. “Margaery is still convinced he will not die,” she reported, as the queen was dressed for court. “She plans to send her own maester to look after him. The cousins are praying for the Mother’s mercy.”

“我也会加入祈祷。明天，和我一起去贝勒大圣堂吧，我们要为英勇的百花骑士点起一百根蜡烛。”她转向侍女。“多卡莎，把王冠拿来。对，新的那顶。”这一顶比原先的轻，然而淡白色金箍上嵌有祖母绿，稍微扭头便闪闪发光。

“I shall pray as well. On the morrow, come with me to Baelor’s Sept, and we will light a hundred candles for our gallant Knight of Flowers.” She turned to her handmaid. “Dorcas, bring my crown. The new one, if you please.” It was lighter than the old, pale spun gold set with emeralds that sparkled when she turned her head.

“今天有四个人带来侏儒的消息。”乔斯琳将求见的奥斯蒙爵士带入。

“There are four come about the Imp this morning,” Ser Osmund said, when Jocelyn admitted him.

“四个？”太后感到一阵幸福的惊讶。近来，至红堡觐见的形色人等越来越多，各各声称有提利昂的线索。然而一天来四个还是破天荒头一遭。

“Four?” The queen was pleasantly surprised. A steady stream of informers had been making their way to the Red Keep, claiming knowledge of Tyrion, but four in one day was unusual.

“是的，”奥斯蒙道，“其中一个带来了人头。”

“Aye,” said Osmund. “One brought a head for you.”

“那我先见他。把他带进书房。”这次不会再错了吧。等了这么久，我也应该报仇雪恨，让小乔安息了。修士们说七乃是神圣的数字，如果真是这样，那这第七颗人头当能遂她心愿。

“I will see him first. Bring him to my solar.” This time, let there be no mistakes. Let me be avenged at long last, so Joff can rest in peace. The septons said that the number seven was sacred to the gods. If so, perhaps this seventh head would bring her the balm her soul desired.

来人是泰洛西人，生得矮小粗胖，谄媚的笑容让她不由得想起了瓦里斯。此人分叉的胡须染成绿粉两色。瑟曦厌恶他的外表，但若他箱子里装的真是提利昂的人头，这些便不算什么。箱子由雪松木所制，以象牙雕出藤蔓与鲜花的图案，用白金镶边并做搭扣。名贵之极，但太后只关心里面的内容。至少，箱子够大，提利昂人小畸形，头大得不成比例。

The man proved to be Tyroshi; short and stout and sweaty, with an unctuous smile that reminded her of Varys and a forked beard dyed green and pink. Cersei misliked him on sight, but was willing to overlook his flaws if he actually had Tyrion’s head inside the chest he carried. It was cedar, inlaid with ivory in a pattern of vines and flowers, with hinges and clasps of white gold. A lovely thing, but the queen’s only interest lay in what might be within. It is big enough, at least. Tyrion had a grotesquely large head, for one so small and stunted.

“陛下，”泰洛西人深深鞠躬，低沉地说，“您就跟传说中一样美丽。即使在狭海对岸，您的绝世风采仍旧被人们传诵赞扬。我们也为您的不幸而悲伤，它该是如何地折磨着您温柔的心灵啊。是的，没有人可以把您勇敢的儿子还给您，但我希望自己至少能减轻您的痛苦。”他把手放在雪松木箱子上。“我给您带来了正义，我带来了您的VALONQAR的首级。”

“Your Grace,” the Tyroshi murmured, bowing low, “I see you are as lovely as the tales. Even beyond the narrow sea we have heard of your great beauty, and the grief that tears your gentle heart. No man can restore your brave young son to you, but it is my hope I can at least offer you some balm for your pain.” He laid his hand upon his chest. “I bring you justice. I bring you the head of your valonqar.”

这个古老的瓦雷利亚词汇令她不禁汗毛直竖，却也给了她无穷的希翼。“小恶魔不是我的兄弟，以前不是，现在更不是，”她大声宣布，“我也不愿说他的名字。那个名字曾属于伟人，但他玷污了它。”

The old Valyrian word sent a chill through her, though it also gave her a tingle of hope. “The Imp is no longer my brother, if he ever was,” she declared. “Nor will I say his name. It was a proud name once, before he dishonored it.”

“在泰洛西，我们称他为‘血手’，因为他双手染满鲜血——国王的血，父亲的血，有人说他还杀了母亲，用尖利的爪子撕开子宫降生于世。”

“In Tyrosh we name him Redhands, for the blood running from his fingers. A king’s blood, and a father’s. Some say he slew his mother too, ripping his way from her womb with savage claws.”

胡说，瑟曦心想。“大概是吧，”她应道，“如果小恶魔的人头真在箱子里面，我将当场赐封你为伯爵，并赏予城堡和土地。”头衔不过是廉价品，而河间地多的是废弃的堡垒，它们荒凉地矗立在焚毁的村落与野草蔓生的田野之中。“朝廷还等着我开会，你快快把箱子打开。”

What nonsense, Cersei thought. “ ’Tis true,” she said. “If the Imp’s head is in that chest, I shall raise you to lordship and grant you rich lands and keeps.” Titles were cheaper than dirt, and the riverlands were full of ruined castles, standing desolate amidst untended fields and burned villages. “My court awaits. Open the box and let us see.”

泰洛西人用浮华夸张的姿势掀开箱子，微笑着退离两步。箱子里面，淡蓝色天鹅绒布上，一颗侏儒的头瞪视着她。

The Tyroshi threw open the box with a flourish, and stepped back smiling. Within, the head of a dwarf reposed upon a bed of soft blue velvet, staring up at her.

瑟曦瞧了很长时间。“这不是我弟弟。”她嘴里尝到苦味。我抱着这么大希望，尤其是在洛拉斯的事件之后，我还以为诸神……“这个人双眼都是棕色，而提利昂的眼睛一黑一碧。”

Cersei took a long look. “That is not my brother.” There was a sour taste in her mouth. I suppose it was too much to hope for, especially after Loras. The gods are never that good. “This man has brown eyes. Tyrion had one black eye and one green.”

“眼睛，眼睛……哦，陛下，很不幸，您弟弟的眼睛已经……已经腐烂了。我用玻璃来代替……然而颜色刚巧弄错了，请您原谅。”

“The eyes, just so … Your Grace, your brother’s own eyes had … somewhat decayed. I took the liberty of replacing them with glass … but of the wrong color, as you say.”

这话让她更愤怒。“他是玻璃珠子，我脸上长的可是雪亮招子。告诉你，就算龙石岛上的石像鬼雕像也比这家伙长得更像小恶魔。他秃了顶，而且年纪有我弟弟的两倍，还有，牙齿哪儿去了？这怎么回事？”

That only annoyed her further. “Your head may have glass eyes, but I do not. There are gargoyles on Dragonstone that look more like the Imp than this creature. He’s bald, and twice my brother’s age. What happened to his teeth?”

泰洛西人在她的怒火面前似乎缩了一圈。“他曾有副上好的金牙，陛下，可我们……很抱歉……”

The man shrank before the fury in her voice. “He had a fine set of gold teeth, Your Grace, but we … I regret …”

“噢，没到你说抱歉的时候。你会后悔的。”我真想当场扼死他，教他挣扎呼吸，直到面孔变黑，就像我亲爱的儿子那样。她几乎叫出口来。

“Oh, not yet. But you will.” I ought to have him strangled. Let him gasp for breath until his face turns black, the way my sweet son did. The words were on her lips.

“这是个误会，诚实的误会，侏儒们长得太像，所以……对了，陛下您看，他也没鼻子……”

“An honest mistake. One dwarf looks so much like another, and … Your Grace will observe, he has no nose …”

“他当然没鼻子，因为被你砍掉了！”

“He has no nose because you cut it off.”

“不是！”泰洛西人额头密布的汗珠出卖了他。

“No!” The sweat on his brow gave the lie to his denial.

“不是？”一丝满含怨毒的甜蜜渗入瑟曦的语调中，“至少你还不算太笨，上一个白痴居然要我相信某位雇佣巫师让侏儒的鼻子长了回来。不过呢，既然你欠侏儒一个鼻子，那好，兰尼斯特有债必还，马林爵士，把这骗子扔给科本。”

“Yes.” A poisonous sweetness crept into Cersei’s tone. “At least you had that much sense. The last fool tried to tell me that a hedge wizard had regrown it. Still, it seems to me that you owe this dwarf a nose. House Lannister pays its debts, and so shall you. Ser Meryn, take this fraud to Qyburn.”

马林·特兰爵士抓住泰洛西人的胳膊，将抗议不止的矮子拖了出去。他们走后，瑟曦转向奥斯蒙·凯特布莱克。“奥斯蒙爵士，清掉这颗头，再带其他三个线人来见我。”

Ser Meryn Trant took the Tyroshi by the arm and hauled him off, still protesting. When they were gone, Cersei turned to Osmund Kettleblack. “Ser Osmund, get this thing out of my sight, and bring in the other three who claim knowledge of the Imp.”

“是，陛下。”

“Aye, Your Grace.”

很不幸，这三位自称晓得小恶魔行踪的白痴比泰洛西人更没用。其中一人说小恶魔藏在旧镇的妓院，靠嘴巴取悦男人维生，这是副滑稽的图景，但瑟曦根本不信；第二个人说侏儒在布拉佛斯加入了杂耍艺人的剧团；第三个人则称提利昂在河间地某个山头上装神弄鬼。对他们三人，瑟曦都是相同的回答。“如果你能指引我麾下勇敢的骑士们去捉拿到小恶魔，一定重重有赏，”她承诺，“听清楚，得是小恶魔本人，如果不是他……好吧，我的骑士不会容忍欺骗行径，也不会容忍白痴的胡言乱语。若报告有误，便割舌头。”此言一出，三位线人无一例外都踌躇起来，纷纷声称自己见到的小恶魔有可能是别的侏儒。

Sad to say, the three would-be informers proved no more useful than the Tyroshi. One said that the Imp was hiding in an Oldtown brothel, pleasuring men with his mouth. It made for a droll picture, but Cersei did not believe it for an instant. The second claimed to have seen the dwarf in a mummer’s show in Braavos. The third insisted Tyrion had become a hermit in the riverlands, living on some haunted hill. The queen made the same response to each. “If you will be so good as to lead some of my brave knights to this dwarf, you shall be richly rewarded,” she promised. “Provided that it is the Imp. If not … well, my knights have little patience for deception, nor fools who send them chasing after shadows. A man could lose his tongue.” And quick as that, all three informers suddenly lost faith, and allowed that perhaps it might have been some other dwarf they saw.

瑟曦没想到世上竟有这么多侏儒。“天下已被这些扭曲的小怪物占满了吗？”最后一个线人带下去之后，她抱怨道，“他们究竟有多少？”

Cersei had never realized there were so many dwarfs. “Is the whole world overrun with these twisted little monsters?” she complained, whilst the last of the informers was being ushered out. “How many of them can there be?”

“反正现在比以前少了，”玛瑞魏斯夫人微笑，“我能有幸陪陛下上朝吗？”

“Fewer than there were,” said Lady Merryweather. “May I have the honor of accompanying Your Grace to court?”

“你能忍受朝会的冗长与烦琐的话，就来吧，”瑟曦说，“劳勃在大多数事情上都很傻，但这一桩他是对的：统治王国是多么乏味的工作啊。”

“If you can bear the tedium,” said Cersei. “Robert was a fool about most things, but he was right in one regard. It is wearisome work to rule a kingdom.”

“看到陛下如此烦恼，我很难过。依我之见，咱们不如悠闲一会儿，让国王之手去听取那些无聊的请愿吧。咱们可以扮成女仆，到市场里玩耍，听听他们怎么议论龙石岛的陷落。我知道蓝诗人没被小王后聘为幕僚之前常献艺的酒馆，我还知道一个魔术师的地窖，在那里，魔术师能把水银变成黄金，清水化为美酒，女孩变成男孩。或许他能为你我二人施下魔咒，陛下，您介意做一夜的男人吗？”

“It saddens me to see Your Grace so careworn. I say, run off and play and leave the King’s Hand to hear these tiresome petitions. We could dress as serving girls and spend the day amongst the smallfolk, to hear what they are saying of the fall of Dragonstone. I know the inn where the Blue Bard plays when he is not singing attendance on the little queen, and a certain cellar where a conjurer turns lead into gold, water into wine, and girls into boys. Perhaps he would work his spells on the two of us. Would it amuse Your Grace to be a man one night?”

如果能当男人，我要成为詹姆，太后心想，如果能当男人，我要以自己之名而非托曼之名君临七大王国。“不介意，只要你还做女人，”瑟曦道，她心知这是坦妮娅想要的回答，“你拿这些色迷迷的东西来引诱我，真是个小坏蛋，不过，身为摄政王太后，我怎能把朝政交给那个双手颤抖不休的哈瑞斯·史威佛呢？”

If I were a man I would be Jaime, the queen thought. If I were a man I could rule this realm in my own name in place of Tommen’s. “Only if you remained a woman,” she said, knowing that was what Taena wanted to hear. “You are a wicked thing to tempt me so, but what sort of queen would I be if I put my realm in the trembling hands of Harys Swyft?”

坦妮娅撅起嘴巴，“陛下太严肃了。”

Taena pouted. “Your Grace is too diligent.”

“没错，”瑟曦同意，“每天结束时我都会为此后悔。”她挽起玛瑞魏斯夫人的胳膊。“走吧。”

“I am,” Cersei allowed, “and by day’s end I shall rue it.” She slipped her arm through Lady Merryweather’s. “Come.”

今日贾拉巴·梭尔第一个来请愿，作为流放中的王子，他身份最高。只见他穿着明亮的羽毛披风，外表十分光鲜，说出口的却是卑谦的求恳。瑟曦等他说完惯常的言语——无非是要铁王座资助他军队好去夺回家乡红花谷岛云云——随后道：“陛下有自己的战争要打，贾拉巴王子，目前没有一兵一卒可以抽调。等明年吧，再看看情况。”这是劳勃惯常的回答，她决定尽快改变，等到明年，她将宣布永不远征盛夏群岛。但今日有龙石岛的大喜事，还是别再影响心情了。

Jalabhar Xho was the first to petition her that day, as befit his rank as a prince in exile. Splendid as he looked in his bright feathered cloak, he had only come to beg. Cersei let him make his usual plea for men and arms to help him regain Red Flower Vale, then said, “His Grace is fighting his own war, Prince Jalabhar. He has no men to spare for yours just now. Next year, perhaps.” That was what Robert always told him. Next year she would tell him never, but not today. Dragonstone was hers.

炼金术士公会的哈林大人第二个前来，他请求若在刚收复的龙石岛上发现龙蛋，让他手下的火术士来加以孵化。“如果有龙蛋存在，史坦尼斯早就卖来换钱，以支持叛乱了。”太后斥道。她本想大大贬损这疯狂的想法一番，自坦格利安家族最后的巨龙死去以后，所有试图将龙唤回世间的努力不仅徒劳，而且带来了死亡、灾祸与耻辱。

Lord Hallyne of the Guild of Alchemists presented himself, to ask that his pyromancers be allowed to hatch any dragon’s eggs that might turn up upon Dragonstone, now that the isle was safely back in royal hands. “If any such eggs remained, Stannis would have sold them to pay for his rebellion,” the queen told him. She refrained from saying that the plan was mad. Ever since the last Targaryen dragon had died, all such attempts had ended in death, disaster, or disgrace.

一群商人要铁王座居中调解他们与布拉佛斯铁金库之间的纠纷。布拉佛斯人要求立即归还大笔款项，而且拒绝新一轮借贷。我们需要自己的银行，瑟曦决定，“蓝尼斯港金库”就挺好。或许等托曼的王位巩固之后，她便着手操办此事，目前，她只好吩咐商人们尽量偿付这帮布拉佛斯的吸血鬼。

A group of merchants appeared before her to beg the throne to intercede for them with the Iron Bank of Braavos. The Braavosi were demanding repayment of their outstanding debts, it seemed, and refusing all new loans. We need our own bank, Cersei decided, the Golden Bank of Lannisport. Perhaps when Tommen’s throne was secure, she could make that happen. For the nonce, all she could do was tell the merchants to pay the Braavosi usurers their due.

教会代表是她的老朋友雷那德修士。六名战士之子护送他穿过城市，一行七人，神圣而吉祥。新任总主教——或者照月童所言，新任大麻雀——做什么都要合乎“七”的标准，连骑士们的剑带都染成七色条纹。此外，水晶装饰在骑士的长剑圆头和巨盔顶上，他们的盾牌更是自征服战争以来就不多见的风筝盾，上面的徽章几世纪之久未曾亮出：黑底上闪耀的七彩宝剑。科本说，迄今已有近百名骑士宣誓加入战士之子，愿意为之献身，而且数目每天都在增长。天下的白痴还真多咧！

The delegation from the Faith was headed by her old friend Septon Raynard. Six of the Warrior’s Sons escorted him across the city; together they were seven, a holy and propitious number. The new High Septon—or High Sparrow, as Moon Boy had dubbed him—did everything by sevens. The knights wore swordbelts striped in the seven colors of the Faith. Crystals adorned the pommels of their longswords and the crests of their greathelms. They carried kite shields of a style not common since the Conquest, displaying a device not seen in the Seven Kingdoms for centuries: a rainbow sword shining bright upon a field of darkness. Close to a hundred knights had already come forth to pledge their lives and swords to the Warrior’s Sons, Qyburn claimed, and more turned up every day. Drunk on the gods, the lot of them. Who would have thought the realm contained so many of them?

加入的骑士大多是诸侯的门客或雇佣骑士之流，但也有少数出自名门望族，如无继承权的次子幼子、地方领主或企图洗刷罪孽的老人，甚至蓝赛尔也在内。当科本告诉她，她那白痴表弟放弃了刚得来的城堡、领地和老婆，回到都城加入重生的战士之子时，瑟曦认为简直是个天大的笑话——而眼下，他竟堂而皇之地站在眼前这群故作虔诚的白痴当中。

Most had been household knights and hedge knights, but a handful were of high birth; younger sons, petty lords, old men wanting to atone for the old sins. And then there was Lancel. She had thought Qyburn must be japing when he had told her that her mooncalf cousin had forsaken castle, lands, and wife and wandered back to the city to join the Noble and Puissant Order of the Warrior’s Sons, yet there he stood with the other pious fools.

瑟曦厌恶他们，她更厌恶大麻雀忘恩负义，无休无止地前来骚扰。“总主教阁下呢？”她劈面质问雷那德，“我要见他本人。”

Cersei liked that not at all. Nor was she pleased by the High Sparrow’s endless truculence and ingratitude. “Where is the High Septon?” she demanded of Raynard. “It was him I summoned.”

雷那德修士抱歉地说：“总主教阁下派我作他的代表，他要我向陛下声明：他受七神托付，必须与邪恶之行做殊死搏斗。”

Septon Raynard assumed a regretful tone. “His High Holiness sent me in his stead, and bade me tell Your Grace that the Seven have sent him forth to battle wickedness.”

“搏斗？怎么搏斗？在丝绸街里宣扬贞洁吗？他以为妓女祷告之后就会变回处子？”

“How? By preaching chastity along the Street of Silk? Does he think praying over whores will turn them back to virgins?”

“我们的身躯由天父与圣母形塑而成，雌雄结合，代代繁衍，”雷那德答道，“妇女出卖身上最神圣的部位乃是罪大恶极。”

“Our bodies were shaped by our Father and Mother so we might join male to female and beget trueborn children,” Raynard replied. “It is base and sinful for women to sell their holy parts for coin.”

若非太后心知肚明雷那德修士在丝绸街的每家妓院都是熟客，这番虔诚的声明好歹能留下一点影响。毫无疑问，他觉得背诵大麻雀的废话总比擦地板舒服。“别对我传教，”她告诉他，“妓院老板们来抱怨过了，而且说得在理。”

The pious sentiment would have been more convincing if the queen had not known that Septon Raynard had special friends in every brothel on the Street of Silk. No doubt he had decided that echoing the High Sparrow’s twitterings was preferable to scrubbing floors. “Do not presume to preach at me,” she told him. “The brothel keepers have been complaining, and rightly so.”

“罪人们的言语，有何可听之处？”

“If sinners speak, why should the righteous listen?”

“罪人们维持着国库，”太后直截了当地道，“有了‘侏儒的铜板’，我才能支付金袍卫士的工资，才能建造战舰来保卫海岸。此外，还有贸易问题，如果君临城连间妓院都没有，那商船宁可去暮谷城或海鸥镇也不会来这里，明白吗？总主教阁下曾向我亲口保证会维持市井的安宁，窑子嘛，正是维持安宁所不可或缺的东西。一旦剥夺了人们行淫的权利，人们就会转向强暴，所以，从今往后，叫总主教阁下待在自己的圣堂里好好祷告，那才是此类活动该当进行的地方。”

“These sinners feed the royal coffers,” the queen said bluntly, “and their pennies help pay the wages of my gold cloaks and build galleys to defend our shores. There is trade to be considered as well. If King’s Landing had no brothels, the ships would go to Duskendale or Gulltown. His High Holiness promised me peace in my streets. Whoring helps to keep that peace. Common men deprived of whores are apt to turn to rape. Henceforth let His High Holiness do his praying in the sept where it belongs.”

太后以为盖尔斯大人会紧接着来抱怨财政，出现的却是派席尔国师，他脸色灰败，用懊恼的语调诉说罗斯比本人已病得下不了床。“很遗憾，恐怕盖尔斯大人很快就会与他尊贵的先祖们团聚了。愿天父公正地裁判他。”

The queen had expected to hear from Lord Gyles as well, but instead Grand Maester Pycelle appeared, grey-faced and apologetic, to tell her that Rosby was too weak to leave his bed. “Sad to say, I fear Lord Gyles must join his noble forebears soon. May the Father judge him justly.”

罗斯此死后，梅斯·提利尔和小王后会不会顺势强迫我接受粗胖的加尔斯？“盖尔斯大人咳嗽了这么多年，只当是家常便饭，偏偏在这节骨眼上……”瑟曦抱怨，“他咳嗽着度过了劳勃的一半统治期和乔佛里的朝代，现在要死，只能证明有人故意害他。”

If Rosby dies, Mace Tyrell and the little queen will try and force Garth the Gross on me again. “Lord Gyles has had that cough for years, and it never killed him before,” she complained. “He coughed through half of Robert’s reign and all of Joffrey’s. If he is dying now, it can only be because someone wants him dead.”

派席尔国师满腹狐疑地眨巴眼睛，“陛下？谁想害盖尔斯大人啊？”

Grand Maester Pycelle blinked in disbelief. “Your Grace? Wh-who would want Lord Gyles dead?”

“他的继承人，或许吧。”多半是小王后。“又或许是他得罪过的女人。”玛格丽、梅斯和荆棘女王合谋，有何不可？毕竟盖尔斯挡了她们的道。“再或者是什么仇人夙敌之流，甚至就是你干的。”

“His heir, perhaps.” Or the little queen. “Some woman he once scorned.” Margaery and Mace and the Queen of Thorns, why not? Gyles is in their way. “An old enemy. A new one. You.”

老人大吃一惊，“陛——陛下说想吧。我……我替盖尔斯大人清肠、放血、敷药、治疗……用雾汽水减轻他的痛苦，以甜睡花教他少受咳嗽的折磨，不过最近他的肺腔开始出血……”

The old man blanched. “Y-your Grace japes. I … I have purged his lordship, bled him, treated him with poultices and infusions … the mists give him some relief and sweetsleep helps with the violence of his coughing, but he is bringing up bits of lung with the blood now, I fear.”

“算了算了，你回去告诉盖尔斯大人，我不准他死。”

“Be that as it may. You will return to Lord Gyles and inform him that he does not have my leave to die.”