The big man was startled by Dany's sudden outburst. He stumbled back two steps and, once he recovered, was deeply ashamed and furious at his moment of cowardice. Pointing at Dany, he shouted, "Look at you, your whole face glowing red from eating well. Your cheeks are plumper than ours—surely you're a heartless rich scoundrel!"
"Are you blind? My cheeks are fat?" Dany reached toward her left waist with her right hand, only to touch nothing. She turned her head to look at the old maester slumped by the wall—he was holding two longswords.
"Am I fat?" she asked the old man.
The red-nosed elder glanced around and, pointing at the nearby refugees, nodded. "Compared to them, your bit of baby fat really stands out."
"Fine, I'm fat," Dany replied grimly, glaring at the big man. "But I don't buy it. During the bountiful summer harvest, were you all skeletons like this too? Were you heartless rich folk then as well? You're poor now, and that's others' fault for being able to eat? What kind of logic is that?"
The big man was stunned. He recalled the days of feasting and drinking at Winterfell and found himself unable to refute her.
"Tell me, have you ever killed someone?" he asked again.
"Of course I have. At the crossroads inn, I killed a few Bloody Mummers. What, are you all kindred spirits and looking to avenge them?"
"Uh…" The big man scratched the back of his head, clearly confused.
"What's the point of arguing?" a young Northman walked up and asked, "Do you have any gold dragons?"
"Yes."
"Well, there it is. You have gold dragons, and we need gold dragons to survive. That's a crime! Hand over the money—or hang." the young man declared.
"She's a good person," Septon Meribald couldn't help but speak up in Dany's defense. "This knight lady was the first to rush out and fight the Bloody Mummers to protect the children in the inn. She also plans to buy food to help the poor of the Riverlands. If you want more common folk to live, it's best you let her go."
"Really?" the big man looked at long-legged Jenny.
"She may have said that… but I'm not sure she'll follow through," Jenny replied hesitantly.
The big man thought for a moment, then sighed, "You stand aside for now. Let the Lady finish judging the lion first, then we'll see what she does with you."
Lady Stoneheart moved her gaze from the parchment and brought her right hand under her chin, clutching her neck as if to strangle herself. Her voice came out in raspy gasps, broken and hoarse like the final breath before death—so chilling it made everyone's hair stand on end.
"What did she say?" Dany asked.
"She asked the lion for the sword's name," the young Northman said.
"Oathkeeper," Brienne replied.
Lady Stoneheart's eyes burned like two coals in the shadow, brimming with fury. Her throat emitted a sound like a blade scraping glass.
"She says it should be called 'Oathbreaker,' 'False Friend,' fit only for betrayal and murder—just like you," said long-legged Jenny.
"Who have I betrayed?" Brienne demanded.
"Her. Have you forgotten you once swore to serve her?" the Northman said, pointing at Lady Stoneheart.
Even though she had already suspected it, Dany still couldn't stop herself from gasping. "This can't be… You actually brought her back to life?!!"
Brienne cried out at almost the same time, "Impossible! Lady Stark is dead!"
"Yes, dead by guest right," Jenny murmured bitterly. "Since then, such vows mean nothing anymore."
Lady Stoneheart cast a glowing red glance at Dany, then reached out with claw-like hands to lower her hood and untie the gray wool scarf from her face. Exposed beneath it were strands of bone-white, withered hair, a mottled gray-green forehead speckled with brown rot.
Strips of decayed flesh clung to her face, stretching from her eyes to her chin. Some parts were split and crusted with dried blood, and in some places, the stark white of her skull was clearly visible.
"Lady Catelyn?!" Brienne and Barristan gasped in unison.
"Seven save us," Maester Perestan turned ghostly pale, as if seeing a specter. "You died… at the Red Wedding."
Grey-haired Thoros spoke, "Yes. Frey slit her throat—from one ear to the other. When we found her by the river, she'd already been dead for three days.
"Harwin begged me to give her the kiss of life, but too much time had passed. Her corpse was rotting and deformed—I refused.
"Maybe it's because Lord Beric came back too many times. Each time he was revived, he lost a piece of his soul—along with fragments of his memory. And the side effects grew worse.
"He was once young and handsome, strong and full of life. In the end, he became skin and bones, hair gone white, body covered in wounds. I could feel it—he lived in pain every moment.
"So, he took my place. He pressed his lips to hers and passed on his flame of life. And then… with the Lord of Light's blessing, the Lady returned."
"This can't be real…" The old maester's entire worldview collapsed.
If this world held such sorcery, was their crusade to wipe out dragons truly meaningful?
A lifetime of conviction shattered in an instant—the old maester was in despair.
"My lady, I didn't betray you!" Brienne sobbed.
The big man, Harwin, translated Lady Stoneheart's words: "Words are like the wind. Prove it with your actions."
"How?"
"Kill Jaime Lannister—with this sword, Oathkeeper."
Brienne froze, then stammered out a defense, "My lady, it's not what you think. Jaime… when we were captured by the Bloody Mummers, he saved me from being… violated. Later, he came back for me, jumped into the bear pit bare-handed to rescue me… I swear to you, he's not an oathbreaker. He sent me to find Sansa and protect her. He couldn't have been part of the Red Wedding."
Dany finally saw it—this foolish girl had fallen for Jaime.
Every word she used to defend the Kingslayer was based on her own experiences: He saved me. He preserved my chastity. He jumped in bare-handed to face the bear and saved me again. So, he's a good man. And good men don't break oaths.
Lady Stoneheart's fingers dug deep into her own neck as she rasped out a chilling sentence.
"You must choose. Kill the Kingslayer with the sword, or be hanged as a traitor," the Northman translated.
Brienne shook her head firmly. "I choose neither."
Lady Stoneheart was silent for a long time, then uttered a single word:
"Hanging!"
Yeah… everyone understood that one.
"Wait a moment," Dany stepped forward before the bandits could drag Brienne away. She looked at Catelyn, who now seemed almost monstrous. "It's clear you're trying to shift your responsibilities onto others."
"Hissss..." Lady Stoneheart spat words like a venomous snake. A Northerner immediately scolded, "You have no right to speak here. Once these three lions are hanged, then you'll be judged."
"Lady, you're not afraid of death, yet you fear the truth? Don't you want to understand how your whole family ended up in such a tragic state?"
Dany crossed her arms and said calmly, "The Starks were the most honorable of all the noble families in the Seven Kingdoms. There was no mother more devoted to her children than you, and no father more just and loving than Eddard Stark. Your children were all exceptionally bright—so how did it come to this ruin?"
Catelyn's fiery eyes dimmed. She waved off the Northerners pulling at Dany and spat out a single word: "Speak."
"Because you trusted the wrong people!" Dany sighed and pointed to Brienne. "Take her, for example. Anyone with a functioning brain and even a bit of life experience would see that Lady Brienne is honest, kind, loyal, and brave.
Having someone like her as a bodyguard is ideal. Any king with her as a sworn knight could sleep soundly at night."
"My lady, you flatter me," Brienne blushed, shifting awkwardly. "I'm not that great."
"No, you're really not. You're slow-witted and so naive it borders on foolish—that's your flaw."
Dany rolled her eyes at her and continued speaking to Lady Stoneheart. "Lady Catelyn, do you know how she went looking for your daughter Sansa?Every person she met on the road, she'd ask, 'Have you seen a beautiful red-haired virgin around thirteen years old?'
So, do you understand now?
You never should've sent someone like that to deal with the Lannisters.
Forget the Kingslayer—what kind of ruthless figures are the Imp and Lord Tywin?
You sent one of the most innocent people in the Seven Kingdoms to negotiate with some of its most devious schemers. There's nothing more absurd than that."
"That actually makes a lot of sense…" muttered the big man, Harwin.
Long-legged Jeyne, Thoros, and the young Northerner all nodded in agreement. They hadn't questioned it before, but now, after hearing the female knight's words, a sour realization hit them—how foolish must their leader have been to make such a choice?
Lady Stoneheart's face twisted through various expressions before she reluctantly said, "The Kingslayer swore an oath to me."
Dany rubbed her forehead. "Gods have mercy—you're calling him the Kingslayer, a white knight who killed a king, and you expect him to keep an oath?
He swore sacred vows when he donned the white cloak—oaths far weightier than any promise made with a sword at his throat."
Brienne couldn't help but interject, "Ser Jaime didn't break his oath. He arranged for me to—"
"Fool! Don't embarrass yourself!" Dany cut her off without mercy, then turned to her with a stern look and asked, "Weren't you captured by Roose Bolton?"
"Yes, Ser Jaime saved me, and he—"
Dany waved her hand dismissively and asked again, "Did Roose Bolton betray Robb Stark and collude with Tywin and Walder Frey?"
"Yes," Brienne answered honestly, no longer trying to explain.
"Wasn't it one of Roose Bolton's men who cut off the Kingslayer's hand?"
"It was the Bloody Mummer. He betrayed Lord Tywin and switched sides to join Bolton."
"And in the end, Roose Bolton had one of his trusted men escort you and the Kingslayer to King's Landing?"
"I thought Roose Bolton had heard what I said about the negotiations and was obeying Lady Catelyn's orders," Brienne defended.
"Sure, with your intellect, being deceived that easily is to be expected. But now? Now you know about the Red Wedding. You know Roose Bolton had already betrayed the Starks. Do you still think what happened at Harrenhal was normal?"
Brienne's expression changed drastically. She trembled and asked, "You mean to say… Ser Jaime knew?"
"Whether he knew about the Red Wedding, I can't say. But at that time, he must've negotiated with Bolton right in front of you, setting the price for betraying the Starks. From that moment on, Bolton could participate in the Red Wedding without any hesitation. The tragedy of the North was already sealed."
Dany turned to Lady Stoneheart. "You never should've let the Kingslayer go. Once Tywin learned his heir was safe, he lost the one thing that made him hesitate to go through with the Red Wedding.
With his cunning, he'd surely guess Jaime had made a deal with you. But even if he honored his son's vow, it meant nothing—by then, the direwolves were already doomed.
You let Sansa go, but where could she even go?
The North already belonged to the Boltons, and the Freys at the Twins wouldn't spare any remaining Stark blood.
If I were Tywin, I'd absolutely uphold my son's noble reputation, even publicize it—release Sansa before the eyes of the realm so all seven kingdoms would see: the Lannisters keep their word.
And then use the Boltons and Freys to eliminate the remaining Starks. Sansa never had the power to change anything. But Jaime and Robb did—and you chose your daughter."
"You," Archmaester Pycelle pointed at Dany in horror, "You're cruel—more ruthless than Tywin!"
Even the bandits instinctively stepped back, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Dany—as if she had truly become Tywin and was about to carry out that wicked scheme.
(End of Chapter)
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